Battle Weary
by AyJay
Summary: The hunters become the hunted. In a battle that has raged for millenia, why are Dean and Sam suddenly so important to the struggle? What secrets do they hold that have now made them targets from an unknown enemy?
1. On the Run

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter One**

_And a time came to pass when those that lived on the surface faced great peril. Their world, their lives, their future….their very souls up for the taking._

_A battle raged around them. A battle that had been fought for millennia past and would be fought for millennia to come. A battle that hinged on the strength, courage and determination of the few, against the raw desperation of the many. A battle of good versus evil. A battle to which those on the surface were oblivious._

_There were those born to fight this war. Through their blood a legacy was passed. A legacy passed from generation to generation. A seemingly unending line of warriors. There were others who '**fell' **into the battle….or so they thought. Unaware they were chosen for this life, destined to continue the battle. They themselves now passing a legacy._

_The battle was interminable. Sustained by the trickery and deceit of the malevolent; the greed and desire of the easily corrupted and the will of the just to ensure their world survived. The warriors locked-horns, victory and defeat an even battlefield. Every inch gained in one battle, was lost in another. No ground was given. Each conflict drowned in the blood of the defeated._

_But inevitably, as is with all battles, complacency creeps in. Guards are dropped, defences let down…and an opportunity arises. A time when one will have the upper hand. A time when walking the knife's edge becomes more perilous. A time when the fate of the many is held in the hands of the few._

_Time. It all comes down to time. And with time comes change….evolution….a new warrior._

Dean sat in another crappy chair, at another crappy table in another crappy motel, in another crappy town, swirling even crappier coffee in a chipped, coffee-stained cup. He watched the disgusting liquid whirlpool around the mug, his mind seeming to circle with it. He looked over, Sam was crashed out on one of the beds, still fully clothed. He hadn't even removed his boots. Dean put the mug down, rose quietly from the chair and went to his brother. He gently removed his boots, grabbed a blanket from his bed, covering Sam before retaking his position in the chair. His position? No. His sentry.

It had been almost two months since that job in Michigan. They'd been on the run ever since. Never staying in one place too long. Staying out of trouble, away from hunting, under the radar. Whatever they needed to do to stay alive. Dean rubbed absentmindedly at the scar on his shoulder. The shot had been a through-and-through. He'd been lucky. So had Sam. It had been a head shot. He moved the dark-blue curtain aside just enough for him to scan the parking lot again. No new cars. No movement. Not a sound.

He went to the bed "Sam. Sammy" he shook his brothers shoulder "Time to move." Sam groaned and half-turned away from his brothers voice but Dean persisted "Now, Sammy! They're coming." Sam was on his feet in an instant, all vestiges of sleep gone. He slipped his boots on, grabbed the pistol from the night-stand, threw his bag over his shoulder and followed Dean out the door.

"How close to you think they were this time" he asked Dean. Dean shook his head "Close, dude. Close." Dean pushed his foot to the floor and the Impala leapt forward, her engine screaming through the still night air. He was worried, the time between them being found was getting shorter and shorter. If he didn't know any better, he'd have thought there was some kind of tracking device attached to them, but he'd checked the car, all their gear…_everything_. He looked over at Sam, maybe it was a different kind of tracking device.

Sam was at the wheel now. Dean had insisted they stay moving until they got out of the state. Sam had started to protest, he could see how tired his brother was, he knew Dean was averaging about 4 hours sleep a night….and he knew it was because of him. If they didn't figure this out, it'd kill both of them.

Sam pulled into a motel just over the state border. He reached over and gently shook Dean awake "Hey, Dean….Dean. Wake up, dude. We're here" Dean's eyes snapped open, his hand shooting up and grabbing painfully at Sam's wrist.

"Dean! It's me…easy, now"

Dean grinned sheepishly at his brother "Sorry, dude. Don't know my own strength" He stretched awkwardly in his seat, smacking Sam across the back of his head before jumping out of the Impala laughing. Sam had to grin, he hadn't heard Dean laugh in weeks.

Sam waited while Dean sorted out the room. He scanned the area often, his eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary, any sound, any movement that didn't sit with the area. His hand never far from the pistol at the small of his back. He looked up quickly when he heard footsteps only to see Dean sauntering towards him, swinging the keys in his hand.

Dean pushed open the motel door and groaned "Why? " he turned to Sam "Why Sammy? Just ionce/i I'd like to stay in a motel room that _doesn't _scare the crap out of me" He walked in and threw his bag on the floor, Sam following him, grinning from ear to ear.

Prairie. That was the only word to describe the room. The shag carpet was a shocking shade of green, the ceiling a bright azure and if _that_ wasn't enough, there were white fluffy white clouds painted on it as well. Some bright spark had thought nailing fence palings to the wall would give the room more authenticity (it didn't). There were rolling hills painted on the walls, little cabins perched precariously on said hills and what looked like livestock grazing on the badly painted paddocks. The beds weren't beds either, they were cots. Camping cots. The bedside tables, tree-stumps with gas lanterns sitting on them. The hide of a jersey cow lay on the carpet between the cots. The table was of the picnic kind, a red and white chequered table-cloth over it, an old metal pitcher filled with daisy's sat in the middle of it. The light fixture had a circular shade. It was a searingly bright yellow.

Dean turned to his brother and grinned "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto".

Sam laughed "Actually, we are"

Dean stared incredulously at his brother "Bullshit"

Sam shook his head with a smile "Ness City, Kansas…or the outskirts of Ness City."

Dean moved his eyes over the room and shuddered "And how the hell am I supposed to sleep in that" he pointed to the cot.

Sam laughed "At least your legs aren't gonna hang over the end"

Sam grabbed the laptop, moved the flowers out of the way, placed the laptop in the centre of the table and opened it. Dean sat opposite him "If I get _one_ splinter in my ass, I'm gonna sue, make millions and shut this place down. This and _every_ other crappy motel we've ever stayed in."

Sam grinned "Yeah, Dean. _that's_ what you'd spend the money on"

Dean smiled "What're looking for, geek-boy?"

"Something…anything. Anything that'll tell us what the hell is going on and how those freaks are tracking us"

Dean watched his brother work, studying him, trying to see if there was _anything_ different about him. Physically, he looked the same and he hadn't had a nightmare or premonition in forever which meant that yellow-eyed bastard hadn't been close to him. So who the hell _were _these people?

The first they'd seen of them…well not actually seen, they'd been ducking for cover and then hightailed it out of there as soon as they could, was just after they'd left Michigan. They'd stopped by the side of the road to take a piss when they'd heard what sounded like a sonic boom, only not anywhere near as loud as it should have been. Their internal radar's had hit overdrive, the _'beep, beep, beep'_ warning in their heads, deafening. Dean had almost had a _'Something About Mary'_ moment as he zipped up, but his pistol was in his hand in seconds, his instinct to keep his brother alive stronger than any fear for himself.

He'd thrown himself at Sam, knocking him to the ground and covering Sam's body with his own. He felt the bullet before he heard it. "STAY DOWN!" he'd yelled at Sam, his pistol raised as he scanned the area looking for the shooter. Dirt had kicked up in his face as a bullet missed him by inches. He'd pushed Sam down into a small gully, telling him to stay put while he chanced a run to the Impala. He'd ducked and weaved his way over, the bullets just missing him. He'd thrown himself through the open window, staying low as he started the car. He'd gunned the engine, throwing the car into gear and racing over to Sam. He'd flung the door open and Sam had scampered in. Dean had pushed his foot hard to the floor, the Impala fishtailing as it roared back onto the highway and away from whomever was trying to kill them.

They thought they'd been safe at the next motel but a bullet had screamed through the motel window, ricocheting around the room before lodging in the tv. They'd managed to get away without injury but now understood that they were being hunted. Hunted by something that seemed to know where they were.

Only one other time had they heard the strange _'sonic-boom'_ sound preceding an attack. They knew it was significant but all searches they'd made had turned up nothing. Searches of their fathers' journal had yielded nothing but Dean was _sure_ there had to be something in there, it was just a matter of deciphering their father's riddles.

**_To be continued..._**


	2. Discovery

**Battle Weary...**

**Chapter Two.**

Sam looked up at Dean "I think I may have found something".

Dean sat straighter "You think? Or you're sure. 'Cause we really need sure, Sammy."

Sam smiled weakly "I'm not a hundred percent but you said that when you caught a glimpse of one of them, the first thing that came into your head was _'army_'"

Dean nodded, all he'd seen was a movement in the shadows, a hulking man, armed up the ying-yang and the flash of some type of uniform. Not a familiar uniform either, but he knew establishment when he saw it. And then it was gone. They worked like military as well. Once they'd failed, they'd moved off. Not wanting to be found by authorities and never staying around long enough to try again. Perhaps knowing there'd be more chances in the future. Knowing eventually, they'd get them.

"There's mention here…"

Dean interrupted "Here, where?"

Sam glanced up from the laptop "Aaah, it's an internet site for myths and legends" he held up his hands "Let me finish. It tries to link myth and legend to actual events, to show that what some believe to be fantasy is actually based on fact."

Dean grinned "Convert the masses"

Sam smiled "It's more pontificating than anything else, you know what those sites are like but there's mention of a war, a war that's raged for millennia. You know the classic good versus evil, blah, blah, blah….but, just at the end they talk about a new world army. An army sent to wipe out the unknown warriors. To bring forth Armageddon"

Dean tried not to roll his eyes "Sammy, good versus evil? Armageddon? How many times have we heard those phrases tossed about? We grew on _up _on those stories"

Sam nodded "I know, Dean. Don't you think Dad told us them for a reason?"

"So what are you saying? That we're the warriors they're supposed to destroy?"

"It fits doesn't it? I mean look at what we do? We fight evil. We do good and we do it all in secret…"

Dean grinned "So what are you saying, _Clarke_? The hunters are now the hunted?"

Sam gave Dean the finger "Why not? Why wouldn't they fight back? And what better way than taking us out"

Dean drummed his fingers on the table "Search for anything similar that's happened to us. Not random shootings…hits. These are _hits_, Sammy" he got up, grabbed their fathers journal and sat down to read.

Dean re-read the scrawl on the side of the page. He rubbed at his eyes and read it again. '_Division? Or divide and conquer? Find victory'_ and there were co-ordinates listed underneath it. "Sammy, I got something" he passed the journal to his brother and pointed to the page.

Sam read and re-read "Division?"

Dean nodded "Army. The divide and conquer and victory all point to a battle. Grab your bags, we're moving out"

They drove slowly down the dirt track to the property. The trees that lined that track perilously close to the Impala's paintwork. The winding path the Impala was taking meant their line of sight was limited to fifteen feet. It had been planned that way. Whoever lived here, knew what they were doing and they didn't want visitors. Unfortunately for the owner, the '_No Trespassing'_ and '_Private Property. Keep Out!_ 'signs were flagrantly disregarded by the Winchester boys.

Dean turned to Sam "You carrying?" Sam nodded, his eyes scanning the tree-line and road in front of him for any movement. They finally broke through the tree-line and into a small open area, that held a one-story, wood cabin that looked like it hadn't been inhabited for decades. The flickering light in the windows begged to differ.

Dean pulled the Impala to a stop next to an old firebird and turned off the engine. "Nice and slow, Sammy. Keep your hands where they can be seen but .."

Sam turned "Dude, I'm not an idiot" and he opened the car door slowly and got out. Dean followed suit, both of them closing the doors and walking slowly towards the cabin. They'd put one foot on the porch steps when the door was flung open. Sam and Dean looking down the barrel of a .12 gauge while the man at the door had two pistols trained on him.

"You understand the trajectory of a shotgun, boys?"

Sam smiled "Yes, sir. But there's only three feet between you and us, so the spread will only take one of us out"

Dean grinned "And you'll be dead before you can squeeze off another shot"

The man stared hard at the boys "You're rather sure of yourselves"

Dean nodded "Our father taught us well"

"Your father?"

Dean nodded "John Winchester"

"So you must be Tom and Pete?"

Dean grinned again "Unless he has another family in Florida, then no"

Sam sighed "Look, we don't have a lot of time to stand around playing twenty-questions. I'm Sam this is Dean. We found your…"

"Where's your Dad?" They didn't need to say it aloud, he saw the answer in their eyes. "Shit, when? How?"

Dean shook his head "We can't go into it right now. We found your co-ordinates in his journal…"

The man lowered the shotgun "I know why you're here. Get inside, we don't have a lot of time" he laughed "yeah, time…" he turned and walked back inside. Dean and Sam following warily.

"You can put your guns away, you're safe here. They don't know about this place"

"They?" asked Sam.

The man nodded "The ones that are after you. You and Dean" Dean and Sam glanced at each other "Sit down" and he pointed to the kitchen table. He went to a bookcase near the fireplace, removed a large leather binder and walked back, grabbing beers before sitting down with them.

"So, introduction first. My name's Gus Jackson. Your Dad and I go way back. I'm out of the game now" and he smacked at his wooden leg. "But I promised your Dad if you _ever _made it here, I'd help you out….cause you'd damn well need it"

Dean looked at the man, late forties, salt and pepper hair, worn short. Dark blue eyes that seemed too old for his face. "Dad never mentioned you"

Gus shook his head "He wouldn't" he stared hard at Dean and Sam and took a long swig of beer "You see, I'm your last chance, boys"

"Last chance? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Dean.

Gus opened the leather binder "You're marked, the both of you"

"Marked?"

Gus nodded "For death"

Dean grinned "Isn't that a bad Steven Segal movie?"

Sam grinned back "Is there a _good_ Steven Segal movie?"

Gus slammed his beer bottle down on the table "I'm glad you both think this is funny! You boys are in some serious, serious shit here! I expected better from you" he shook his head "You're not you father…"

Dean tensed in his chair and said through gritted teeth "You leave him out of this. You don't _know_ us, so you shut your mouth"

Sam intervened "Look, we're sorry but we've been on the run for over two months and we've had someone taking pot shots at us like it's hunting season…"

"It IS hunting season" he looked at them "And you two are the prey"

"Just the two of us? We figured they were going after all hunters. Not just me and Sammy"

Gus laughed "You two are the last ones left. Not the last _hunters_ left, there's still plenty of those around. You two are the last of the new kind. More will come but you two" he laughed "you two are a prize"

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" asked Sam.

"You shouldn't like the sound of that. It ain't all that good. You see, you two …you're a new breed of hunter" he raised his hand "Don't interrupt, just let me finish. You ever wonder why it is that you two seem to be able to find evil as easily as you do? I mean _most_ hunters don't get around anywhere near as much as you"

"Never really thought about it. I mean we just do the job and move onto the next" Dean shrugged his shoulders "Always been that way"

Gus nodded "Of course it has. You two are like the bloodhounds of the supernatural world. You pick up on the subtleties of their presence that other hunters don't…or rather can't. _That's_ what makes you dangerous. Dangerous to them. They know it and that's why they're hunting you"

'They who?" asked Sam.

"_The Cull Squad_, that's what they're called"

"Culling the herd" mused Sam.

"Exactly"

"So why are we so special?" grinned Dean. "Apart from the dashing good looks and oozing sex appeal, that is"

Gus had to smile "Yeah, you're a couple of studs. I'm having trouble controlling myself. Now to answer your question, you and Sam both have gifts. What are they?"

Dean shook his head "Sam has nightmares, visions if you like…but me? Nothing"

"Bullshit" said Gus, he stared at Dean "It's not just Sam they're coming for, Dean. It's you too. So tell me what it is"

"Nothing, dude. I mean I can disassemble and reassemble a rifle in under a minute, I kick demon ass and chicks dig me but…no special powers…although x-ray vision would seriously rock" he grinned.

"Dean…" Gus turned the leather binder towards the man "Time to take your blinkers off, son"

Dean looked at the binder and started to read. He finished quickly and sipped distractedly at his beer, pushing the binder towards Sam.

Gus raised an eyebrow "So you see now?"

"I don't see shit" said Dean. There was NO way that could be right. He'd know.

Sam looked up from the binder and turned to Dean "What the hell does that mean? That Dean has some kind of in-built _tracking _device? That he can sense them?"

Dean shook his head "No way. Dad just taught me well"

Gus laughed "He wouldn't have had to teach you too much, Dean. It's _there_, inside of you. You _know_ where they are. Any attempts at trying to hide aren't gonna work with you" he turned to Sam "And you, Sam. You have death visions?" Sam nodded "You ever wonder about who it is you're supposed to save?"

"The innocent?"

Gus smiled "Yeah, the innocent, that's part of the job. But do you think some of the ones you see could be like you? Like the two of you? The new breed of hunters? Or the parents of a new breed of hunters?"

Dean and Sam said nothing. This was seriously messing with their heads. This life was all they'd known. Dragged into it by the _yellow-eyed _bastard that had killed their mother. Forced to live _The Life_ while their father hunted the demon down. Now Gus was saying …what?

"So what the hell are you saying?" asked Dean.

Gus sighed "How damn dangerous to them, to the _darkness_ do you think you and those like you are? Think! You have an insight into their world…do you really think they're happy about that?"

"Yeah, well…screw 'em" Dean sipped at his beer.

"So we're _never _gonna be rid of them. They'll be hunting us until they kill us"

Gus shook his head "Nope. Universe doesn't quite work that way. You see, it's all about balance. Things must be kept in balance. The scales can't be tipped to favour one side or the other. This is a war that will continue long after you're both dead. What's happening now is ….an opportunity"

"An opportunity for them"

Gus nodded "Yeah. But you weren't given these…abilities for nothing" he stood up and went to the fridge for more beers. He turned and smiled "You boys are gonna turn the tables. No more running. It's time to send those demon-boys a message. Let 'em know their time here is over" he grinned "Time to send them back to their own time"

"Time?"

He laughed "Yeah. You've heard that hypothetical? Meeting Hitler as a kid? If you were sent back in time, would you kill him for his future sins?" both Dean and Sam nodded "Well those demons are putting that theory into practice"

Dean laughed "They're _future _demons? You gotta be shitting me!"

Sam shook his head "The sound, the one we've heard, Dean. The one before the first attack….and the fourth" Dean nodded slowly. Sam looked at Gus "It's like a _sonic-boom,_ only not as loud and it makes your hair stand on end"

Gus nodded "Makes sense. They're messing with time"

Dean shook his head "How far ahead are we talking about? And I can't believe I'm buying into this"

"Believe it, Dean. Both yours and Sam's lives depend on it. Put your disbelief aside for now and listen. You beat them…you send them back, it ends …..for now"

"But they'll be back" Sam mused.

Gus nodded "They'll always be back. But right now, it's either you or them. One of you has to win for it to end" he looked at them "And I promised your Dad it would be you" he came back to the table, handed them beers "Time to get to work"

**_To be continued..._**


	3. Conversations in Time

**Chapter Three**

Dean went out to the Impala and removed all the weapons they had and bought them into Gus' cabin. "Alright this is practically everything we have. We have all the other stuff as well…"

"You won't be needing any of that. This is '_old style'_ war, boys"

Dean grinned "Old style war…with future demons. Paradox anyone?"

"Gus, if they don't know about this place, then how the hell are we supposed to have this…. showdown" asked Sam.

"Gunfight at the OK Coral" quipped Dean with a grin.

Gus laughed "More like…." he reached over to his book case and opened a hidden drawer and pulled them out "Sword fight" he had to laugh at the look of enthusiasm on Dean's face when he saw the swords.

"Oh yeah, pass that baby over!"

"Aaah, Gus? They have _guns_. Big, scary, blow your head off guns. Those are swords…" said Sam incredulously.

"Sammy, don't be raining on my parade, dude" he took one of the swords from Gus and pulled it from its scabbard, his grin almost splitting his face. He looked at Gus "This is more _like_ it!" he swung the sword in an arc.

"Whoa, Dean!" Gus laughed "We'll go outside in a minute and you can play with her all you like…"

"Gus, again with the guns versus swords issue. They're taking pot shots at us with what could only be sniper rifles! What are we supposed to do? Deflect the damn bullets with the swords?"

Dean looked at Gus "Superman here's just pissed cause I made him leave his cape in the car"

"Dean!"

Dean laughed: "Settle down, Sammy. Gus wouldn't give us swords if they weren't necessary" he looked at Gus "Right?"

Gus nodded "You boys need to understand who you're fighting. These aren't your _do-random-evil_ type demons. These are highly trained, military-style demons. They work on a code. At the moment they're out to assassinate you both…"

"Awesome" deadpanned Sam.

Dean turned to Gus "Ignore her, it's that time of the month"

"For fuck's sake, Dean! Can you take this even a _little _seriously? We're being hunted by a hit squad that won't stop til either they're dead or WE are and Gus here wants us to go at 'em with swords! Swords, dude! And stop swinging that thing!"

Dean laughed softly "You gotta learn to chill out a little, Sam. Yeah, some big nasties are on our asses but when have they _not_ been? " he grinned at his younger brother "And now I get to use a big-ass sword on the bastards"

"Sam, listen to me. I'm sure you and Dean are expert riflemen but these demons are _specialists_. If you take them on, you'll lose. I guarantee it."

"Hey! We…"

"Shut up, Dean. You and Sam are going to challenge them….don't look at me like that. Your Dad and I discussed this. So you _both_ listen and you listen well!" he stared hard at them "Like I said, they work on a code, you challenge them to a sword fight, they _have_ to accept. Your Dad said you were both natural's with the sword so _that's _what you're gonna use"

"And how the hell are we supposed to challenge these assholes?" asked Sam, shaking his head at Gus.

"You asked me earlier why they didn't know about this place? Cause if they _did_ Sam, I'd be dead already and you boys would be seriously screwed" he sighed "How do you think they know where you've been? Cause they can track you through your credit-cards or hunts that you've done. They can just go back to where you were and track you from there. So we're gonna use that against them. Lure them in and then cut the fucker's heads off"

Dean grinned "I'm starting to like you, Gus"

"Yeah, I'm all aquiver" Gus tossed Sam the other sword "You start with one, then move up to two. Go outside and practice. I've gotta go into town and get supplies"

Sam and Dean followed Gus outside. The man got awkwardly into the firebird, reversed and sped out of the property. Dean looked at Sam and grinned "I feel like some ransacking" and they headed back into the cabin.

They searched for twenty minutes and found nothing except some old photos of Gus with their father, the two of them in uniform, hamming it up for the camera…. and a lot of scribblings about time. How it worked, how it could _possibly _work and how it didn't damn well work at all. The man was obsessed. He also had an awesome array of weaponry. Dean had damn near had an orgasm when he found it and Sam was sure the man had just gone up a few notches on Dean's _'he's alright'_ scale.

They put everything back exactly as they'd found it and Sam reluctantly followed Dean outside. Sam was _nowhere_ near as happy as Dean was to be using a sword. Swords were an intimate weapon. You had to get up close and personal to use them, you looked into the eyes of the one you were killing. It _had_ to mark you.

They walked to an open piece of ground and faced each other.

"Oh come on, Sammy! Don't tell me having that baby in your hand doesn't give you some kind of pleasure?"

Sam had to smile "It's been awhile…"

Dean grinned at his younger brother "Well it's not like you haven't had your hand on something that looks …."

Sam struck at Dean with the sword and laughed "Shut the fuck up, dude"

"Sammy, that's a sword in your hand, not your dick" he grinned "use it properly" and he baited his brother, taunting him as he circled him, getting him used to the feel of the weapon again and making sure his little brother would be ready when the time came.

Gus came back an hour later, he leaned against the car and watched them. He could see they were out of practice but he could also see what John had meant when he'd told them they were naturals. They slowed down when they saw him watching. He pushed himself off the car "Get back to it. You've got two days" and he walked into the cabin.

Gus called them in three hours later. They were sore and sweaty but they were both grinning like kids on Christmas morning. "You eat, we'll go over some plans and then you go back out and train. You're good. You need to be better"

"Stop gushing, you're making me blush" said Dean with a smile.

Gus smiled "Somehow Dean, I don't think you'd quite know how to do that. Now eat" he pointed to the table and they sat down.

Dean was shovelling food into his mouth at break-neck speed as Sam looked on, appalled. He kicked his brother under the table "Dude!"

Dean looked up from the plate of food in front of him "What?"

Sam just shook his head "So, Gus. How are we gonna do this?"

Dean grinned "The pointy end goes into the bad guy, Sammy"

"Really. I was just gonna beat 'em to death with the handle" he turned to Gus "Well?"

"There's a piece of land not far from here. Your Dad bought it so that when the time came you'd have somewhere to fight them"

"What defences do we need to put into place?" asked Dean as he continued to shovel the food into his mouth.

"Defences? Have you listened to _anything _I've said? This is an old-fashioned sword fight. Once the challenge is in place, there are no tricks. From _either_ side. If you resort to that to that it's an automatic forfeit"

"Which means?"

"We die, Sammy"

"This is messing with my head. They're demons! _They_ use tricks, deceit _all_ the time, its damn well built into their DNA!"

"They're military, Sam. I know you don't understand it, but they _won't_ resort to trickery"

Dean finished his food, leaned back in his chair, rubbed at his stomach and burped loudly "Good stuff, Gus. Thanks" he picked up his beer "So, how many are we talking about?"

"Standard eight man…or I should say, demon squad"

"So eight against two" Dean grinned "They're outnumbered"

Sam put his fork down, he'd lost what little appetite he had "I still don't understand how we get them to that property. I mean their whole objective is to kill us, assassinate us, as you so nicely put it. So tell me, how the_ hell_ are we gonna challenge them without getting a bullet to the brain?"

Gus sighed, he understood the boy's frustration. This had been messing with his head for a long time but after twenty-odd years of trying to figure this out, he'd come to realise that as much as time-travelling was an advantage, it was also a disadvantage "We're gonna use their so-called advantage against them. They want to mess with time? Well we'll mess with their ability to use it"

Sam sighed "Why do I feel a paradox coming on?"

Gus laughed "Because there's a paradox coming on" he got up, grabbed more beers, sat back down and passed them out "I've always found that alcohol tends to help with the understanding of this" he smiled "but that could just be the alcoholic in me" he put his elbows on the table and leaned forward "Alright, listen up. I told you, you had two days" they nodded.

"Is that when you're going to set this up?" asked Dean.

Gus smiled, Dean was about to be shocked out of his ever-lovin' pants "Not me, son" he took an envelope from his jacket pocket and flicked it to Dean "You"

Dean picked up the envelope, it had Gus' name and address on it in his writing. He opened it and pulled out a photo…a photo of him, Sam and Gus…leaning against the Impala, beers in hand, swords across their backs. He turned it over and written on the back in his scrawl was _'Swordfight at the OK Coral'_ and a date, two days from now. He stared at the back of the photo for a long time.

"Dude, what is it?"

Dean passed the photo to Sam who looked at it, turned it over and then picked up his beer and drank almost all of it. "Okay, my _weird-shit-o-meter_ just went into overdrive" he looked at Gus "How is this possible?"

"I'm not sure….but I'm guessing that this is the second time we're doing this"

"Second time?" Sam drank the rest of his beer, went to the fridge and came back with three more "We haven't done it the first freakin' time!"

"Obviously we have, Sammy. How else could I have sent the photo?" he looked at Gus "Why are we doing this _again_?"

"I don't know" he saw the looks on their faces "Look, I don't claim to have all the answers, all I know is that, that" he pointed to the photo "means that you've been here before. Something must have happened the first time that meant you had …have to do it again"

"Again? We haven't done it the first fucking time!" Sam stood and started to pace "This…I…shit!"

"Settle down, Sammy"

"Settle down? Settle down? Are you fucking serious?" he slammed the photo down on the table in front of Dean "We've NEVER had this photo taken and yet here it is, large as fucking life! How is that possible, Dean?"

"Sam. I understand this is messing with your head, but you gotta let that go and concentrate on the job at hand. You not only need to get physically prepared you need to be _mentally_ prepared. You can't make a mistake out there. One lapse in concentration and it's all over"

Sam looked at Gus then at Dean. He grabbed his beer and stormed outside. Dean sighed, picked up his beer and went to follow his brother.

"Dean"

He turned back to Gus and he was holding out a piece of paper. Dean took it from him and read it. He finally looked at Gus "Is this why?"

Gus nodded "You go out there and you make _sure_ he's ready. I'm guessing this is the only chance you're going to get to make sure it doesn't turn out that way again"

**_To be continued..._**


	4. Preparations

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Four.**

Dean found Sam sitting on the Impala's hood, the now empty beer bottle resting in his hands. He was staring at it like it could give him all the answers he needed. Dean understood where Sam was coming from, this was seriously messing with his head as well, but he _knew_ he had to put all that aside if they were going to get through this with their asses intact….especially after reading his letter to himself. He shook his head '_his letter to himself', _Freud would _love _this.

He walked over to Sam and leaned against the car next to his brother "It's not an oracle, dude."

Sam gave a short smile "It'd probably make about as much sense as Gus is right now"

Dean sighed "Sammy, it's not _supposed_ to makesense. None of it is. Don't you see that? You gotta let that part of it go. _That's_ how they'll win. If you spend too much time trying to make sense of it, you _won't _be ready and dude, you _need_ to be ready"

Sam finally looked up from the beer bottle and into the concerned eyes of his brother "Why didn't Dad just tell us?"

"What was he gonna say, Sam_? 'Oh, by the way, if sometime, somewhere down the track, some scary bastards start shooting at you, go see the one-legged dude. And just on that, those scary bastards? They're time travelling demons from the future'_ Come on, Sammy! We'd have laughed in his face and told him to go back to _Jack, Jim_ and _Johnny_"

"How can you just….I mean, Jesus Dean! Time-travelling demons?"

Dean had to laugh "Why the hell not, Sammy?"

"Because….because…..because….aaah, shit" he threw the beer bottle against the house, the shattering glass flying in all directions.

"Grab your sword, we got work to do" and he pushed Sam towards the house.

They stayed outside, practicing until the light slowly faded from the sky. Gus had come out periodically and watched, occasionally giving them input before retreating to the cabin.

Dean had pushed Sam all afternoon. He wouldn't let him rest. When Sam got pissed, Dean just laughed. When Sam refused to fight, Dean poked him in the ass with the sword until Sam turned on him and fought. When Sam had pleaded exhaustion, Dean had agreed that Sam _was_ exhausted, what with him being a girl and all and would he like a tiara to go with his sword, princess?

He had finally told Sam to go into the cabin and wash up, he'd be in in a minute. Dean leaned back against the Impala and watched the setting sun, the blazing orange making the surrounding landscape look like it was on fire. _Everything_ engulfed by flames. He suppressed an inward shiver and thought back to the note. If he didn't know the things he did now, he'd have written it off as the ravings of a lunatic; but he knew his handwriting and he _knew_ he'd written the note. The sheer desperation it held was proof enough.

He didn't know how or why they'd been given a second chance, he didn't care. All he knew was that if he didn't do it right this time… He shook his head, he couldn't even _think_ about it. The challenge was already in place. He just hadn't done it yet…but he had. _'Fuck me'_ he thought to himself. Tomorrow he would go into town and set this whole thing up. Tomorrow he would retrace the unknown steps he had already taken …with one minor adjustment. An adjustment that _had_ to work…an adjustment, that, should Sam find out, would turn into one _hell _of a falling-out.

He sighed, there was no other choice. He'd read more into the letter than Gus had. It wasn't just a warning, it was a suicide note.

Dean had finally trundled a drunk-assed Sam off to bed and had gone back to join Gus in the living room. The only light was from the flames that licked at the old stone fireplace. He was sitting on the floor in front of the hearth, nursing his umpteenth beer as Gus watched him.

"You're going into town tomorrow"

It wasn't a question. Dean nodded. "Need to organise a few things"

"You need to be _very _careful, Dean. They'll be watching for _anything_ that comes back to you" he paused "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Dean nodded "I understand more than you think"

Gus gave a nod that Dean didn't see, got up from his armchair and left him to his thoughts. There was nothing else he could do for the boy on that score. Gus had to focus his attention on getting Sam ready. Dean, he knew, would be prepared for this. He just worried to what lengths he would go to keep his brother alive.

Dean went and got another beer and returned to the fire. He pulled the note from his jeans pocket and re-read it. He didn't _need_ to read it again, the words were forever burned into his brain; but having them in black and white, seeing it in his own handwriting, dated four days from now only reinforced his resolve. He understood that he was walking a tightrope, pushing the boundaries of what the universe would allow. But if those fuckers could bend time then he sure as shit was gonna make sure they paid a heavy price for it. _No one_ fucked with his family and got away with it.

The alarm went off on his watch. Midnight. He got up, stretched, grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. Neither Sam nor Gus hearing the Impala's engine start up.

He drove slowly towards the town, keeping the engine as quiet as he could. No music was playing and all the windows were open. He kept an ear out, waiting for the sound. He'd seen something in the photo that the others had failed to notice, _that_ was what he was counting on. He was about two miles from the town when he heard it. He pulled the Impala to the side of the road quickly, got out, shut the door, placed the note under the windshield wiper and ran into the woods that lined the road, staying under cover but also staying close enough so he would hear their reaction.

His heart was thundering in his chest as he waited, if they found him before they found the note, it'd be all over and Sammy wouldn't stand a chance. He took short, quiet breaths and tried to slow his heartbeat. He heard a twig snap off to his left and froze, not even taking a breath just in case he was heard. He heard them move towards the car, he heard the door creak open and then he heard one of them swear.

"What is it Lothar?"

"Call the others here, the hits off."

Dean heard a whistle and the sound of quickly moving feet.

"Dear Satan! The prick did it again?"

Dean rose from his position "The prick did it again"

The demons turned quickly, their weapons aimed at Dean. They didn't fire. Gus had been right. He'd also been right about there being eight of them, and damn if they weren't easily 6ft 7 in their mortal form. They were in the uniforms that Dean had caught a glimpse of previously, he noticed the higher rank of one of them and addressed him.

"The challenge is set. You know the rules"

The demon stepped forward, he held the note in his hand, so Dean assumed this was the one called Lothar. "The challenge is set" he looked at the note again "Although the proviso you have placed on it…" he lifted his head and smiled nastily at Dean "You sure you want to do that?"

"Can you read dickhead?" Dean saw the demons eyes flash an angry red and his jaw set as the fingers of the other demons pressed gently on the triggers "Do it. Forfeit. I dare you" they relaxed their trigger-fingers,

"You understand what happens if you lose?"

"You mean apart from the whole dying thing? Yeah, I understand. The fact that I wrote it kinda points you in that whole direction doesn't it?" he stared at the main demon "It stands"

The demon nodded "It stands" he smiled at Dean "However, we need assurance that you'll keep _your_ side of it. Hunters aren't all that credible"

Dean grinned "Yeah, you just don't know _who_ you can trust these days" he removed his dagger from his boot.

Sam groaned as the curtains to his room were thrown open, the morning sun streaming into the room, assaulting his eyes. He turned over, pushing his face into the pillow "Oh god…"

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" yelled Gus with a grin "Things to do, people to see and all that crap"

"Ten more minutes, Gus….I'm begging you"

He felt the blanket pulled from him and a kick land on his ass "Hey!"

"Get your ass out of bed. This ain't summer camp" and Gus left the room.

Sam groaned again, rolled over and looked at the other bed. Either Dean had made it or he hadn't slept in it. He smiled to himself, yeah, Dean making a bed…that'd be the day. He sat up, ran a hand through his hair and swung his long legs out of bed. He grabbed his jeans, slipped them on and padded out to the kitchen.

Gus was sitting at the table, coffee in hand, going over the leather binder, the scene so reminiscent of his father, he stopped in his tracks. Gus didn't look up "Coffee's on the bench, you want something to eat, look through the cupboards"

Sam helped himself to coffee and sat at the table opposite Gus "Where's Dean?"

"Not sure"

Sam stood and went to the window, the Impala was gone. He turned back to Gus "Where the fuck is he?"

Gus finally looked up "I'm not sure, Sam. He was gone when I got up this morning" he pointed "he left you that"

Sam turned and saw a piece of paper with his name on it. He grabbed it, opened it and read it "Fuck!"

"Tell me"

"You didn't read it?"

"Didn't have my name on it" Sam passed it to Gus, he read it and looked at his watch "Pack your bags, if he's not here in an hour, you take the firebird and you run"

"No fucking way! I will NOT leave him out there with those assholes!" he went to his room and dressed.

Gus was waiting for him when he came out "Where do you think you're going?"

"To find my brother! Now move out of the way"

"No can do, Sam. You read the note, you stay here or it all goes to shit. Your brother knows what he's doing…"

"NO, HE DOESN'T! You don't know him like I do! He's out there doing something incredibly stupid right now! I fucking guarantee it! NOW MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

He went to walk past him and Gus put him on his ass "You stay where you are, boy! Your brother is OUT there trying to end this shit! You go charging in all guns blazing and it could kill him! Do you understand?!"

"I…"

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"NO! I DON'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND! _NONE_ OF IT MAKES ANY GODDAMN SENSE!"

Gus reached down and helped Sam to his feet and pushed him towards the table "Sit down" Gus took the seat opposite Sam, keeping himself between Sam and the door "Listen to me, Sam. What's done is done, you can't go and start changing stuff, Dean has a plan and before you ask, I don't know what it is. I expected him to be here this morning too, but he isn't. So we wait; and if he's not back by the time he said, then you need to get out because they'll be coming for you."

"I won't leave, Dean"

"Son, if he doesn't come back then you run. You don't let your brothers sacrifice be for nothing"

Sam reached over and picked up the photo, the photo of him, Dean and Gus. He stared at it, wondering if this was the last photo he'd have of his brother. He frowned and moved the photo closer, it had changed.

"What is it, Sam?"

Sam stood "Get the first aid kit"

**_To be continued..._**


	5. Paths Crossing

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Five.**

The woman looked over at the man slumped in the passenger seat of her Chevy Bel Air. She'd found him stumbling along the side of the road and, at first, had thought him falling-down drunk …until she'd seen the blood dripping from his fingertips. Normally she wouldn't stop for someone, especially someone she _knew_ would bleed over her beloved car, but when she'd driven slowly past him and seen the look in his eyes, she'd sighed, stopped the car and got out. She'd edged carefully towards him, her hand at the small of her back…just in case. She was no idiot, she knew what these backwater towns were like, she'd been travelling them for too damn long.

He'd looked at her, pain etched clearly in his eyes and said _'My brother…'_ before falling to his knees. She'd gone to his side and he'd turned his head to her, told her he was in no state to hurt her, but he needed her help, his brother needed _his_. She'd sighed again, put a hand underneath his arm and lifted him back to his feet, helping him over to her car. She opened the door and sat him down, swung his legs in, shut the door and raced around to the driver's seat. She'd heard the urgency in his voice, she remembered it in her own long ago. He'd muttered an address before collapsing unconscious.

She looked at the cut down his face, it was nasty. She opened the glove-box, pulled out a small towel and put it to his head, the blood held it in place. She opened his jacket, shit, he didn't need his brother he needed a damn doctor. But she understood the need for family. She pushed her foot to the floor, the Chevy leaping forward, roaring towards what could only be another complication on her trip to find her _own_ brother.

Sam paced the porch of the cabin, constantly checking his watch. It didn't matter what Gus said, there was NO way he was leaving his brother. NO. WAY. If Dean didn't come back, he'd go looking for him. He wouldn't stop until he found him and if that meant going against his brother's wishes, he laughed, his _orders,_ then so fucking be it.

He looked at the photo again. Shit. What the fuck had Dean done? Whatever it had been, it had done some damage. He could clearly see the bulk of a bandage around Dean's left shoulder, the stitches down the side of his face. He wondered what else he _couldn't _see.

He heard the door creak open behind him, he refused to turn around.

"It's time to go, Sam"

Sam shook his head "Five more minutes, Gus."

"I've already given you three _'five more minutes'_ Sam" he put his hand on the boys shoulder "It's time to go, son. You read what Dean wrote. Get your ass out of here and don't look back"

"I'm not leaving. Not without Dean. He'll be here. I _know_ it. We just have to wait"

"Sam…."

Sam shook his head again "I'd know if he was dead" he finally turned to Gus "I'd _know_ it"

Gus sighed "Five more minutes and then I'm dragging your ass to that car and if you so much as turn it around I will shoot you myself" and he turned and went back into the cabin.

Sam waited.

The woman turned her car onto the property. Shit! If she got so much as _one_ scratch on it, there would be hell to pay. She eased the car over the bumps, wincing every time she heard the undercarriage scrape along the ground. She studied the area around her. Whoever lived here didn't want visitor's and they'd designed this track to ensure visibility was kept to a minimum. Interesting. She slowly manoeuvred her car round the last bend in the tree-line and saw a dilapidated cabin with two men on the porch. One was holding a shotgun the other had a pistol in each hand. Well this was some welcoming party. She stopped the car, put the handbrake on, opened the door slowly and got out, her hands clearly visible.

"THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY! GET THE FUCK OFF!" yelled the older man.

She rested her arms on the door of her car and yelled back "Yeah?! Well I got a delivery for you! About 6ft 4, dirty-blonde hair, green eyes and covered in a shitload of blood! You want?!"

She saw the younger man leap over the porch railing, putting his pistols at the small of his back as he sprinted towards her. She got into the car and drove slowly towards him. She was about twenty-feet from the cabin when he yanked the door open and caught her passenger as he fell.

"DEAN!"

Well he had a name now "Put him back in the car, I'll take him to the steps. He can't exactly walk and I don't think running back with him would do him any good"

The man pushed him back in, sitting down and pulling his brother into his lap "Drive!"

She saluted "Yes, sir"

She pulled up as close as she could to the porch steps and the older man, she assumed it was their father, opened the door and helped the man take 'Dean' from the car and carry him into the cabin. She turned off the engine and looked at the mess that was her front seat. Crap, blood was a bitch to get out of leather. She got out and looked around; she saw a bucket lying off to the side, grabbed it, found a tap, filled the bucket and took it back to her car. She opened the trunk, took out what she needed and went to clean the upholstery, pissed that she'd been delayed even longer.

She heard the door to the cabin slam open and looked up just in time to see the younger man grab her and yank her away from the car.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

She tried to push him off her, but he held tight to her t-shirt. She reached up, landing a short, sharp punch to his chin. "BACK OFF, ARSEHOLE! I DIDN'T DO _SHIT_ TO YOUR BROTHER!"

They stared at each other. She could see him breathing heavily, rage emanating from every pore as his fists opened and closed.

"Calm down and fucking listen! I saw him stumbling down the side of the road. I wasn't gonna stop but…" she shrugged "He told me had to get back to his brother. I'm guessing that's you. So instead of being out here bitching at _me_, why don't you go back and spend some quality time with _him_! I'm no expert, but he didn't look too good."

She turned her back on him and returned to her car to finish her cleaning. She knew he was staring at her trying to figure out who the fuck she was. "Go. Let me alone and I'll be out of your hair soon enough"

She heard him leave, slamming the door behind him. _Arsehole_. She thought to herself.

Dean lay on the bed as Gus tended to his injuries. He'd seen the mark on his top left of his chest and if the boy hadn't been unconscious, he'd have beaten him senseless for it. Fucking _idiot_! He should have _realised_ Dean would do whatever it took to keep Sam alive. But this? Now more than ever they needed to win.

He'd dressed the wound and was stitching Dean's face when Sam came back in. "So Sam, you endear yourself to her?"

Sam rubbed at his chin "She's a bitch"

Gus laughed "A bitch that probably just saved your brothers life"

"How bad is he?"

"Well he ain't good, Sam. He's lot _a lot_ of blood."

"We have to take him to a hospital…"

Gus sighed "You _know_ we can't" he looked "You and he the same blood type?"

Sam shook his head "No. Dean's AB-, there's not many people out there that have that blood type. Please tell me you do"

"Sorry, Sam"

They heard a car door slam and they both looked towards the window.

The woman turned when she heard the door to the cabin open. She put her hand to the gun at her back as the two men walked towards her.

"Easy now. Sam here's come to apologise"

Sam looked incredulously at Gus and Gus stared hard at him, motioning his head towards her. Sam sighed and turned back to her "Sorry"

"Gee, stop would you. The sincerity of it's embarrassing me" she went to the trunk of her car, threw her stuff into it and slammed it shut. She went to the drivers door "Tell you brother I hope he feels better" she opened the door.

Sam stepped forward "Wait!"

"Sorry. I'm on my way somewhere, already behind schedule. It's been…..interesting"

Sam took another step towards her "Please…"

She looked into his eyes "Aaah, Jesus. What?" She watched as he opened and closed his mouth "Well?"

The older man stepped forward "At least have a beer with us. One beer won't hurt and if you're already behind schedule…. " he smiled at her "Take it as a …peace offering" She studied them, something was up, no doubt about it…. but she _did_ need to use the bathroom.

"One beer" she grabbed her jacket and followed them into the cabin.

She sat at the kitchen table, making sure she had a clear run to the door if she needed. Her brother would seriously kick her arse if he knew that not only had she picked up a stranger, she'd gone into the remote cabin of strangers. She sipped at her beer, watching them as they watched her.

"Sooooo, you have a name?" asked Sam.

"Yep"

He waited "Well are you going to tell us?"

"Are you gonna tell me yours?"

"I'm Gus Jackson, this is Sam Winchester. The one you picked up is Dean Winchester"

So, the older guy wasn't the brothers' father. "Jay"

Gus smiled at her "Jay, where did you find Dean?"

"Walking down the road about twenty miles south of that crappy town"

"He was _walking_?" asked Gus incredulously.

"If you could call it that" she sipped at her beer.

"You normally pick up strangers?" asked Sam

"Yeah, all the time. I like to live on the edge. I was hoping he'd be some kind of serial killer. Guess I lucked out"

Sam glared at her "Australian?"

Jay glared back "The accent give me away did it?" She looked at Gus "Got yourself a boy genius there"

Gus tried not to smile "How long have you been in the States?"

She shrugged "A while"

"Not many people travel the back roads of small towns with guns" she shrugged and sipped at her beer again "So I'm guessing you're not on some driving holiday, checking out our beautiful country"

Jay finished her beer "If you could point me to the bathroom, I'll be on my way"

Gus pointed to a door off the lounge, she stood and walked warily over to it. She went in and locked it behind her.

Gus reached over and went through her jacket. Nothing. "Check the car" Sam got up quickly and went outside.

When she came out they were sitting at the table and there was another beer in front of where she'd been sitting. She walked over and grabbed her jacket "Sorry, boys. Gotta hit the road. Thanks for the beer" she looked at Sam "I hope Dean's alright. He was worried about you"

Sam looked up from his seat at her "I need your help"

"I'm sorry. I really have to go" she turned away, heading towards the front door.

"My brother needs your help"

She turned back "Your brother needs more than _my_ help. He needs the help of a doctor, you should take him there"

"We can't"

She stared at Sam "Why not?" she paused and held up a hand "Actually, I don't want to know the answer to that. I'm sorry, I can't help your brother" she turned and headed to the door.

"You can. You're the only one _here_ that can"

She put her hand on the door and turned back to them. Sam stood "He needs a blood transfusion"

"Like I said, take him to a doctor"

"He won't make it" Sam walked towards her "You're AB-, just like him"

"How…." She glared at him "You went through my stuff? You BASTARD!"

"I need your help….please…."

"You think I'm gonna help you after you went through my gear? You're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were!"

"Don't do it for me, do it for my brother"

"I don't owe _you_ or your brother shit!"

"Please…." He walked over and opened the door to Dean's room "Look at him"

She _knew_ she shouldn't look into the room but her curiosity _always _got the better of her. Her brother always said it would be the death of her…of him, but she looked anyway. She saw Dean lying on the bed, scarily pale, his breathing laboured. She looked back at Sam, his eyes pleading with her. Fuck.

"Please….he's my brother"

The brother card, just what she needed. "Oh for fuck's sake, alright! Stop it with the puppy-dog eyes" she looked at Gus "You know how to do this?" he nodded "Then do it quickly, I've got my own shit to deal with"

She sat in a chair near Dean's bed, her feet resting on the side table as she went through the journal she'd grabbed from the car, scribbling notes into it, as her blood ran into Dean. Sam sat on the other side of his brother, his gaze going between Dean and Jay. He looked at her, she was tall for a chick, shoulder length, dark curly hair, green eyes and seriously fit.

"I just want to say…"

"Don't talk to me" she didn't look up from the book.

Gus came in "Should only be about fifteen more minutes Jay" she nodded distractedly "Sam, I need to talk to you"

Sam got up and followed Gus to the kitchen "What is it?" He handed the photo to Sam. Sam finally looked up at him "So what does that mean?"

"I think it means, she has to stay"

Sam shook his head "No way"

"This isn't optional, Sam. It's _her_ car we're leaning against now"

**_To be continued..._**


	6. Blood to Blood

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Six.**

Jay sat in the chair next to Dean's bed, scribbling in her brother's journal, going over the clues he'd left her. She looked over, Dean was still pale but his breathing was a _little_ better. What the hell had happened to him? Oh no…she chided herself, don't start wondering or you'll end up doing something you shouldn't, which inevitably meant something _stupid_. She was incredibly self-aware, well she'd had no choice in the matter, her brother had told her every opportunity he had. God, she missed him.

She turned the book to the back and took out the photo of the two of them. They were sitting on his car, smiling, beers in hand and he had a sword across his back. She sighed as she took that trip down memory lane again.

She'd come to the States to visit him for a few weeks and had been on her way home when one of his friends had called saying he'd found Zeke's car...but no Zeke. She remembered seeing the burnt-out shell of his Camaro and knowing he'd _never _leave it. The police knew nothing of course, and there wasn't a hell of a lot they could do, what with there being no body and all. They'd told her to go home to her family, they'd notify her when they had more information. She'd nodded dutifully and left. She had no other family, just Zeke. It had only ever been the two of them and now he was missing. She _knew_ he wasn't dead. _Knew _it. She didn't know how, she just _did._ And when his journal had arrived at his friends place with directives to pass it to her…well, that had sealed it. That had been two years ago.

And now, here she was, a freakin' needle in her arm, giving blood to someone she didn't know when she should be out looking for him. She put the photo away and went back to reading.

She looked up when Sam walked in and went back to her reading. She didn't like him. She felt sorry for him, sure…and she understood his worry. But he'd gone through her_things!_ _Her_ things. She was a fiercely private person, growing up in an orphanage made you guard _everything_ that belonged to you zealously. There was _no_ privacy there. And _this_ one had taken it upon himself to rifle through her belongings. She settled the anger she felt building, picked up her pen and started to write.

"That your diary?" asked Sam, trying to make some peace with her.

Jay looked at him "Yeah. I'm writing down my inner-most thoughts about you. You wanna read them? Or are you just happy going through my things?"

Sam sighed "Look, I'm sorry okay? I just needed to help my brother. I figured if you were here…." he trailed off.

"If I were here, _what?_ That I'd be happy to have you go through my gear and then say, yeah sure, why the hell _not_ give my blood to a complete stranger who just bled all over my car"

Sam quelled his anger "I'm just trying to say _thank you_"

"You're welcome" and she went back to writing.

Gus walked in "Alright, Jay. We should be done now"

She closed the journal as Gus came round to her. He removed the needle from her arm, putting a plaster on it before repeating the process with Dean. She took her feet from the side table and stood, grabbing at the arm of the chair as her head swam.

Gus grabbed her arm "Whoa, take it easy. Sam, take her to the kitchen and get her something to eat"

She shook her head, ohhh, _not_ a good move that "No, I'm fine. I have to get going" she shrugged out of Gus' grip and took a step. The journal dropped from her hands and when she bent to pick it up, she fell on her face, out cold.

Gus looked at Sam and laughed softly "Well, that wasn't _exactly_ how I planned it, but it'll do. Pick her up and put her on the bed"

Sam did as he was told then turned to Gus "Do you have _any_ idea how pissed she's gonna be when she wakes?"

Gus smiled "Pissed" he reached into the pocket of her jeans and removed the car keys "But she's not going anywhere"

Gus checked Dean over "He's better" he grinned "but he would be considering the amount of blood she gave him"

"Jesus, you didn't kill her did you?" asked Sam in all seriousness.

Gus laughed out loud "No Sam, just knocked her out for a few hours. Now grab that book and let's find out who the hell she is and how she fits into all of this"

They were sitting at the table an hour later, drinking beer and going over Jay's …or rather her brother's journal. They'd found the photo of the two of them at the back of the journal and the striking similarity between that photo and _their _photo was a little disconcerting. Hell, it had freaked Sam out.

Sam picked up his beer and sipped "So they're hunters"

Gus shook his head "Not her. Him. She's got nothing in her car that she'd need if she were. She's just looking for her brother"

Gus looked at the _'_Missing Person_'_ flyer he'd found. _Name: Ezekial 'Zeke' Thomas. Age 27 (at time of disappearance). Vital Stats. Height: 6ft 5. Hair: Short/Black/Curly. Eyes: Green. Identifying marks: Appendectomy scar. Circular scar on top left side of chest_. That had peeked Gus' interest.

"So what exactly are we gonna say to her when she wakes? Sorry we sucked a whole lot of blood out of you, but we needed you here because……?" asked Sam

Gus shrugged "We'll just show her the photo and take if from there. That plus the journal…"

Sam grimaced "Yeah, the journal. Great. You _do _know that if she finds out I read it, she's gonna beat the shit outta me"

Gus laughed.

"Don't laugh, dude. I'm serious. That chick _hates _me."

Dean's eyes fluttered open slowly. He took in the wooden ceiling, the dark curtains left slightly apart allowing only a small amount of daylight into the room, his and Sam's duffel bags…. and the woman asleep on the other bed. That stopped him. He turned his head painfully to his left, she seemed familiar…he just couldn't place her. He could hear Sam and Gus' voices coming from the other room. He smiled, he'd made it back. Back to his brother. He turned his head quickly back, which hurt like a sonofabitch, the woman from the car. What the _hell_ was she doing here? And why was she asleep on Sam's bed?

He lifted a hand to his face and felt the stitches. Great. A scar. He smiled, chicks loved scars. He put a hand to the wound on his chest, it had been bandaged which meant Sam and Gus had seen it. He was pretty sure Sam wouldn't know what it meant. Gus on the other hand… And what _was_ that woman still doing here? He pushed himself up, his head swam a little and he shook it in attempt to clear it…ohhh, _not_ a good move that. He swung his legs out of bed, grabbed his jeans, slipped them on and slowly walked out of the room to face the music…casting one last glance back at the woman.

Sam and Gus looked up as Dean closed the door quietly behind him. Sam smiled a huge grin at his brother and went to his side.

"You alright, dude?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine." replied Dean.

Gus looked suspiciously at him "You sure?"

Dean nodded and winced with the movement "Yeah. But why is there a woman asleep on Sam's bed? I mean, if she were naked and in _my_ bed, I'd understand it…but this?" he grinned half-heartedly.

Sam looked at Gus "He's fine" he deadpanned.

Dean took a seat opposite Gus and grabbed Sam's beer and sipped, he wasn't going to bring up the mark "So why is she still here? I mean send her on her way…the less people here the better right?"

"It's not that simple, Dean" said Gus.

"Yeah, it is. Thanks for the ride. On your way" he looked at Sam and smiled "Unless…."

"Aaah, yeah. She's a real catch" he shook his head "No, dude" and he pointed to Dean's arm.

Dean looked and finally noticed the plaster on the crook of his arm. He peeled it off and finally looked up at Gus "How bad?"

"Bad" said Sam "What the _hell_ were you doing, Dean?! You go off on your own and then leave some stupid goddamn note saying if you're not back by 8am, then I had to run. Go, and never look back?! What the _fuck_ is that?! I'm your brother! You don't _do_ shit like that!"

"Easy, Sam. I was just setting up the Challenge is all. Wasn't sure if it was going to go according to plan, so I was just covering our bases. And it's organised for tomorrow at six. I thought dusk would give it a certain ambience" he smiled.

"Bullshit! It was more than that and you know it! Gus won't say anything but that mark on your chest freaked him out. What the fuck did you do, huh? Tell me!"

"Sam, keep it down. We don't want Jay to wake just yet" said Gus.

Dean looked at Gus, a confused expression on his face "Aaah, why wouldn't you want her to wake? We don't _want _her here while this goes down. And again, _why_ is she still here?"

Sam sighed "Because we figured she was _meant _to be here and we knew she wouldn't stay …so ….we ….I mean, _Gus_, made her give you enough blood to ….make her pass out"

Dean stared at Gus "You did WHAT?"

"Dude, just listen…" started Sam.

Dean shook his head "No" he was pissed "Do you _know_ how many cars just drove past me? _Do_ you? She was the _only_ one that stopped and then you go and drain her like a couple of freakin' vampires! How's _that_ for a thank you!"

"Dean, you'd lost a heap of blood, we couldn't take you to hospital! You _know _that! So she …helped"

"Voluntarily?" he saw Sam and Gus glance at each other "Jesus, what did you two do?"

"We…just went through her stuff and found her blood type, it matched yours, which is a more than a co-incidence don't you think?" Dean just stared at Sam "Well she _did _agree to the blood transfusion"

"Just not to the amount huh?" they shook their heads "This is fucking wonderful!" he stood up and sat back down and grabbed his head "My head…."

"Well let me mess with it a little more, Dean" and Gus pushed the photo of the three of them towards him. Dean picked it up and studied it "What the _hell_? Whose car is that?"

"Hers" replied Sam.

"Just because her car…"

"Stop it, Dean" said Gus "There's more" he passed Dean the photo of Jay and her brother and the missing person's flyer. Dean looked at the photo then read the flyer "Anything about that identifying scar sound familiar?"

Dean could hear the anger in Gus' voice "Where did you get these?"

"From her…or rather her brother's journal" replied Gus.

Dean's gaze went between Sam and Gus "Soooo, you went through her stuff, drained her to the point of unconsciousness and now you're reading her journal. Niiiice. Yeah, she's _really_ gonna want to hang around after this"

"You're avoiding the question, Dean" said Gus. Dean just stared at him, refusing to answer "Tell your brother what the mark means" Dean just stared "Tell him"

"Yeah, tell me Dean. Cause I'm guessing if Gus here's pissed then _I'm_ gonna be pissed as well"

Dean wouldn't say a word.

"Alright then, I'll tell him" Gus turned to Sam "You're not fighting, Sam. Dean is. Alone."

"WHAT?" yelled Sam.

"You heard me. Seems your brother here made a deal. He fights them alone. If he wins then everything's sweet"

Sam glared at Dean and said through gritted teeth "And if he doesn't?"

"Then instead of them coming after you…Dean goes with _them_" finished Gus.

Sam stared at Dean, shock and anger fighting for a place on his features "You traded your _SOUL_?"

Gus nodded "His soul for your life"

Sam jumped from his chair, his mind in turmoil "HOW FUCKING _DARE_ YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?"

"I _had_ to, Sammy" whispered Dean.

"Bullshit!" he laughed hollowly "And what happens if you LOSE, Dean? Huh? How am I supposed to live with that? You ever think about that? Did you?" Dean refused to lift his gaze from the table "DID YOU? ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!!"

"I think another question that needs to be answered is why does Ezekial have the same mark as Dean" said Gus in an attempt to ease the tension in the room.

'YOU BASTARDS!!"

They turned quickly, Jay was standing in the doorway, the rage coming off her in waves as she saw her journal open on the table in front of them.

"I'm gonna kill each and every one of you!"

**_To be continued..._**


	7. Gifts

(okay, so I'm on a bit of a roll ...grins... And I should put in a disclaimer. Don't own the boys or the concept. Story is all mine though)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Seven.**

Jay had woken to the sound of yelling coming from the next room. She'd looked over and seen the empty bed. Hang on…what the fuck? She squinted at her watch…no, that couldn't be right. She'd been out for almost two hours. _Two_ hours. She looked down at herself, at least she still had her clothes on. She got tentatively to her feet and edged over to the door, she'd opened it quietly and peeked out. She'd seen Gus sitting at the table, Dean sitting with his back to her and Sam on his feet yelling at his brother. And then she'd seen her opened journal on the table in front of them and she'd snapped.

'YOU BASTARDS!!" they'd turned towards her and she'd taken a step into the room "I'm gonna kill each and every one of you!"

Sam had reached down quickly and snapped the journal shut. She stormed over, grabbed it and noticed Dean holding the photo of her and her brother and Zeke's 'Missing Persons' flyer. She'd snatched them out of his hands "I expected better from _you_" she'd laughed angrily "Although God only knows why!" She returned the photo and flyer carefully to the journal.

Dean looked up at her "Look, I'm sorry…I…"

Sam interrupted "It wasn't Dean. It was me and Gus. We're sorry"

"No, you're bloody well not!"

"We need to speak to you" said Gus.

"Go fuck yourselves!" Dean tried not to smile. She looked at him "You think this is funny? I _saved_ your arse and this is how you repay me? What? A thank you wasn't enough? You had to go through my ….my…." she was so angry she could hardly speak "Aaarrrgh! You PRICKS!"

Dean looked at her and said earnestly "Thank you"

She glared at him and reached into her pocket "Where the fuck are my car keys?"

Dean looked at Sam and Gus "You took her car keys?"

Gus nodded "We need to speak with her"

"Again, go fuck yourselves!" she glared at them, turned and stormed out of the cabin, muttering to herself.

Dean grinned "Well that went well" he paused and frowned slightly"Please tell me you removed any weapons she had from her car" they nodded.

Gus stood "I'll go talk to her"

Dean shook his head "I'll go…I think she hates me the least"

Sam stared at Dean "We haven't finished this conversation, Dean. Not by a fucking long shot!"

Dean stood and walked out to the porch. He saw her sitting in her car trying to hot wire it. Damn, did she want out of here. He didn't blame her though, he'd be pissed too if he'd found strangers going through his Dad's journal. He watched as she popped the hood and got out of the car.

"Mind if we have a chat before you leave?" he'd asked.

She ignored him as she opened it and then turned slowly to him "I want my battery and spark plugs and I want them NOW!"

"I don't know where they are" said Dean.

Jay stared at Dean, she believed him. She stormed back up the porch steps and yanked the door open, Dean following her, a smile on his face.

"You fucked with my car?"

"No…yes…I mean…" stammered Sam.

"Jesus! What else do you want to do? Here, let me bend over and you can probe me! I mean that's the only thing you _haven't_ done!" she paused and frowned slightly "Right?"

"Jesus Christ! Of course not!" said Sam.

"I want my battery and spark plugs" she said menacingly.

"Just give us half an hour of your time and …" started Gus.

"Fuck you!" and she'd turned, pushed past Dean and went back outside.

Dean turned to Sam and Gus and grinned "Oh, I _like_ her" he laughed "Probe me…" he went to the door, looked out and turned back "Aaah, Gus? She's raiding your Firebird for parts"

He jumped up "For God's sake…." and ran out. He jumped awkwardly down the steps and went and pushed her away from his car. She turned and punched him in the face, putting him on his arse. Dean laughed, she had a mean right hook.

She glared at Dean "Keep laughing. You're the only one I _haven't _hit!"

Dean looked at Sam "She hit you? Dude…." he laughed at his younger brother.

Sam glared at Dean "Shut the fuck up!" he went down the steps and walked purposefully towards Jay.

"Come on then! You think I don't want to knock you on your arse as well?" she swung at him and he pushed the punch out of the way.

"Stop it!"

She swung again, catching his ribs before kicking him in the balls where he dropped. She didn't have time to savour the moment before she was slammed against the car.

"Don't fucking touch my brother!"

"Get the fuck off me!" she struggled against Dean, but he was much stronger than she.

"Calm down! For fuck's sake, calm down!" Dean pushed her face-down onto the now closed hood of the Firebird.

Sam struggled to his feet and slammed the photo of them down next to her face. "Look! Take a fucking look at that!" he gasped for breath as he held onto his balls.

She looked at the photo…it was Sam, Gus and Dean leaning against _her_ car. She knew it was her car, same make, model and plates.

"Who do you think took the fucking photo, you crazy bitch!" said Sam angrily.

Jay shrugged Dean off her and picked up the photo. She could see the stitches down Dean's face, the bandage under his t-shirt. And _her_ car. She'd also noticed the swords. The only other people she knew who carried swords were….

She looked at the three men "Alright, what the _fuck_ is going on?!"

They four of them sat around the kitchen table, Jay staring warily at the three men. Gus studied her curiously. Dean just stared, smiling when he caught her eye. Sam glared, keeping a protective hand over his family jewels. They had returned her guns as an act of good faith (Sam hadn't been too pleased about that) but she'd promised not to shoot them. Sam figured she'd had her fingers crossed when she'd made that promise though.

"So, explanation" she'd demanded.

"You want a beer?" asked Gus.

"You spike it with something?" Sam rolled his eyes "I saw that Winchester"

"I wasn't hiding it" retorted Sam

"How're your balls?"

Gus laughed to himself, got up and took four fresh beers from the fridge and handed them round. Jay took Gus' beer, opened it and drank.

"Well?"

"How about some background info on you first?" asked Dean.

"What? You didn't get enough from my journal?"

"Your brother's journal you mean" said Gus evenly.

Her jaw set and her eyes flashed angrily but she didn't say anything.

"Well how about we tell you what we know" said Gus "You're name's Jay Thomas, you're 26 and your brother's been missing for just over two years…"

"My brother has _nothing_ to do with this…you leave him out of it!" she said angrily.

"That's where you're wrong" said Gus, he turned to Dean "Show her"

Dean reached up and slowly removed the bandage from his shoulder. She stared at it in disbelief "How…" she looked at him "WHERE IS HE?!"

"I don't know" said Dean

"BULLSHIT!"

"I swear, I don't know….." he paused, looked into her eyes and said softly "but I have an idea"

She wondered why he looked at her sadly "He's NOT dead" she shook her head "NO way. I'd _know"_

"Would you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I would! Now tell me what you know"

"Your brother's a hunter…a demon hunter" stated Gus.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Yeah, you do. We saw the photo of you and him. He was carrying a sword. That's really not the weapon of choice for most people" said Gus.

"Yeah? Well my brothers not _most _people. Now where the fuck is he?"

Gus looked at her "Tell me something…do you have any …gifts?"

"Apart from being a pain in the ass that is" muttered Sam.

"Don't you mean pain in the balls, princess?" she said with a smile. "Now where the _hell_ is my brother?"

"Think…do you have dreams, visions…anything unusual? Something most people wouldn't have?" persisted Gus.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about" she raised an eyebrow "but if you've got any of that ganja left you've all been smoking, pass it over"

She was lying and they knew it.

"Tell us" said Dean.

"For fuck's sake! I don't know _what_…."

"STOP LYING!" roared Gus.

The gun was in her hand and pointed at Gus' head in an instant, she turned slowly when she heard the hammer of a pistol click.

"Put the gun down…" said Sam, his pistol trained on her.

"Okay, easy now…everyone put down their weapons" he looked at his brother "Sammy…put down the gun"

"Not until she does"

"Well what do you know …a Mexican stand-off and not a drop of tequila in sight" she said.

"Dean, top shelf, right hand cupboard" said Gus.

Dean got up slowly and went to the cupboard, he bought the tequila back to the table and put it near her "There you go, now put the gun down…please. We're not your enemy"

"I want to know where my brother is and I want to know NOW"

"Look, we'll tell you all we know but we _need_ to know this" said Dean.

"Why? Why is it so goddamn important?" she asked.

Dean smiled "So there _is_ something" she said nothing. He sighed "Alright, we'll tell you a little but then you have to promise to tell us what …ummm…"

"Gift" said Gus.

"Yeah, _gift_ …you have…and what _gift_ your brother had"

"_HAS! _You bastard….HAS!"

Dean raised his hands "Okay, okay….has"

Jay put her gun slowly away and Sam rested his on the table in front of him. "Talk"

"We're being hunted…by …shit, look this is gonna sound ridiculous, unbelievable even, but we swear it's true" said Dean.

"Tell me"

"Me and Sam are being hunted by demons….. from…the future" he waited for her laughter, it didn't come "I'm serious"

"I'm not laughing"

"Yeah, I noticed that. Why not?" he asked, his curiosity peeked.

She shrugged "No reason. What else?"

Dean smiled at her "Alright, I'll let _that _lie go for now…"

"What about your parents?" interrupted Sam.

Jay looked at Sam and shook her head "What _is_ it with you and my family tree?"

"You're here by yourself looking for your brother? Where are your parents? Why aren't they here helping you?" insisted Sam.

"They don't travel well"

"They're dead aren't they?" said Sam

"What business is it of yours?"

"They die in a house fire?" he asked. "They did didn't they? Didn't they?"

"Jesus, if you really must know, they were killed in a car accident. Happy? Thanks for the memories" she glared at him.

"A car accident? That can't be right…" he mused.

She looked at Dean "Is he for real?"

Dean nodded "How old were you?"

"What does it matter? Young okay? Now …"

"How young?" asked Gus.

"_What_ does it matter? Jesus…you're a bunch of morbid bastards" she said with a shake of her head.

"Six months, right? You were six months old" Sam knew he was right from the expression on her face. "_Both_ your parents are dead?" she said nothing "Well?" he waited "Well?"

"Yes! Alright! Now answer my goddamn question! Where the _hell _is my brother?"

"Exactly there"

"Huh?"

"Your brother…I'm pretty sure he's in Hell" said Dean.

"You don't mean the metaphor either, do you?" He shook his head "What makes you _think_ he's there? And I want the truth, not some bullshit answer"

"Because _your_ brother did the same think _my_ dickhead brother did" said Sam angrily.

"Hey!" snapped Dean.

"Shut the fuck up, Dean!" he turned to Jay "Your brother sold his soul to save your life"

She shook her head "You're insane…"

"Tell her, Dean. Tell her what that mark means. Ezekial…"

"Zeke" she said quietly.

"Zeke had the same mark didn't he?" she looked at the mark on Dean's chest and nodded slowly. Sam softened "Jay, listen to us" he turned to his brother "Dean, tell her. She has a right to know"

Dean looked at her. Jesus Christ, how was he gonna tell her that her brother was dead? She'd been looking for him for two years, holding onto hope that he was alive. He couldn't be. _Her_ being alive was proof of that. He sighed and spoke softly "It's true. This mark is a pact. Like I said, me and Sam are being hunted, _both_ of us. If I lose a fight with them tomorrow…."

"What? What happens if you lose?"

"They'll take my …" he trailed off.

"Soul! Say it like it is, Dean!"

"They'll take my _soul_ on the proviso Sam's left alone"

"Bullshit!"

Dean shook his head "Your brother did the same thing for you"

She shook her head vigorously "No. He wouldn't do that to me"

"Not _to_ you…._for_ you" said Dean.

"What? Like a fucking gift?" she stood up quickly "Oh, I am gonna _kick_ his arse when I find him!"

"Jay…you're not _going_ to find him" said Gus "He's gone. He lost the fight. _That's_ why you're still alive"

"No. He's good at what he does" she shook her head "No. He's alive. I _know_ it"

"Denial's not going to help you" said Gus "Now you need to tell us what gift you have…because it may help us….well help Dean"

She laughed nastily "You wanna see my gift? Really?"

They nodded somewhat reluctantly. Dean turned to Sam and whispered "Why do I think I'm not gonna like this, dude?"

Sam whispered back "Probably the same reason I don't think I'm gonna like it"

She laughed again "You called it a _gift_? Well I'll _show _you what I think of his _gift!"_"

She took the gun from the small of her back, put it to her heart and pulled the trigger. The blast was deafening.

"NO!" screamed Sam.

Dean stared in disbelief at her lifeless body then turned slowly towards his brother. Was this what lay in store for Sam if he lost?

**_To be continued..._**


	8. Til Death Do Us Part

(Disclaimer: Don't own the boys or the concept. Story's all mine)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Eight.**

Sam jumped up from his seat and ran over to Jay. He dropped to his knees and put shaky fingers to her throat, checking for a pulse. None. He kept hearing someone muttering _'No, no, no, no, no' _over and over. It took him a moment to realise it was him. He ripped her t-shirt open and looked at the wound, Jesus. What had she done? Why? For God's sake, why? He looked at his brother "Help me, Dean!"

Dean just sat in his chair and stared.

Gus came over slowly and put a hand on Sam's shoulder "She's gone, son"

He shook his head "No, if we get her to a hospital…." he didn't believe the words, even as he spoke them but he _couldn't_ get his head around it. He put his fingers to her throat again, hoping he'd made a mistake the first time he'd checked….but she had a hole in her chest the size of his fist. There was _no_ way she could have survived it.

Gus went to his room and came back with an old sheet. "Dean, get your ass out of that chair and help your brother"

Dean got up slowly and walked over to her. He took the pistol from her hand and threw it angrily to the other side of the room. They rolled Jay in the sheet and took her outside. Gus directed them to a place at the far back of the property and went to get shovels. Dean had gone back and retrieved her journal, arguing with Gus about burying it with her. He'd won that argument and had opened the sheet and put the journal in her hands. Gus had left the boys to finish burying the woman.

"I killed her"

Sam shook his head "No, Dean. She killed herself"

"No, I bought her here and …" he shook his head "Just give me a minute"

Sam nodded and left Dean staring at the shallow grave.

Dean stared at the mound of dirt for a long time. Would Sammy do this if he lost this fight tomorrow? Would the pact he'd made to save his brother be the death of him? What had the silly bitch been thinking? Her brother had _sacrificed _himself for her and she'd thrown it all away in a moment of madness. He didn't understand why he was so angry with her.

"Why? Why the fuck did you do it?" he said. Hoping if he said the words aloud, he might get some kind of answer. He didn't of course, which only pissed him off more. "He tried to _save_ you and you do this?" He kicked at the shovel that lay near the grave. "What a waste!" A waste? He didn't know this woman…maybe she wasn't all that nice…he stopped himself, mindful of speaking ill of the dead. He thought about it and decided it must have been a waste. Not many people would pick up a blood-soaked stranger then agree to a transfusion to help them. He gave a short smile, she'd had a mouth on her though. He whispered a 'thank you' to her and turned from the grave.

Sam was helping Gus clean the blood from the cabin when he heard the screen-door open "You alright, dude?"

Dean stared at the blood "Where's the battery and spark plugs for her car?"

Gus stopped cleaning "You need to …" he looked at the boy and sighed "back shed" Dean had nodded and left. Gus turned to Sam "I know you're still pissed at him Sam, but he needs to practice. What happened is a shame but this isn't over…"

Sam looked at him incredulously "A shame? Someone died, Gus! Jesus Christ!"

"Sam, understand that they're coming tomorrow. Jay being dead doesn't change that. Dean still has to fight and if he loses, he ends up the same place her brother is! You want that to happen? Look at the blood on your hands! Those bastards got another one! Don't let them get your brother too"

Sam sighed, he knew Gus was right but he also knew his brother better than Gus did. "Just let him work on the car, it's how he….just let him work on the car" and he went back to cleaning, trying not to think of the blood on his hands…both literal and metaphorical.

Dean bought the battery and spark plugs back to Jay's car. He walked around it, running his hand along it's body. A '62 or '63 Chevy Bel Air Coupe and not a scratch on her. Beautiful. He popped the hood and looked underneath. He grinned, looked like Jay liked to drive fast. He went and grabbed the battery and spark plugs and got to work.

He'd been working on the car for about two hours, Hendrix blasting from the stereo (he'd found a cd collection in the glove box that put his tape collection to shame) when he heard someone behind him. He knew it was Sam but he really wasn't in the mood for a fight.

He didn't look up from the engine "Sammy, you should see this car. It's stock …well apart from the cd player, which is sacrilege…and the engine. Man, she's messed around with it, given it more power. I'm pretty sure it's a '62…hard to get in this condition too…" he knew he was babbling but the thought of having a discussion about the pact he'd made turned his stomach.

"It _is _a '62." Dean spun around "And putting a cd player in the car isn't sacrilege, you just get better sound"

Dean stammered unintelligibly .

"Yeah, it's a _hell_ of a gift"

"SAM!" Dean finally managed to yell.

Sam slammed out of the front door, Gus following close on his heels. They turned when they saw Dean pointing to the side of the cabin.

"What the _hell_??" said Sam, the bloodied rag falling from his finger tips.

"Fuck me…." said Gus, unable to tear his eyes away.

"Oh and just a heads up, fella's. Next time you bury someone, make sure their mouth is closed properly" she spat, went to her car, grabbed her duffel bag from the back seat and went into the cabin yelling back that she was taking a loooong shower.

Sam looked at Dean "She's not dead, dude"

"No shit, Sherlock!" said Dean. He was pissed. How _dare_ she! He stormed into the cabin, slamming the door behind him. He walked to the door of the bathroom and hammered on it "OPEN UP!" He heard the water turn on "I SAID, OPEN UP!"

"I'll be out in about twenty minutes! I'll explain it then!"

"NO! NOW!" he tried the door, it was locked, he rattled the door knob "OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR NOW!"

"Jesus Christ! Just let me shower and…" she stopped as the door was kicked in. "HEY!" she grabbed a towel and covered herself "Get yourself and eyeful, Winchester?"

He walked over and pulled her towel down a little, staring at the scar over her heart, he put his fingers to it. He was just about to yell at her when he noticed the dirt underneath her fingernails. Jesus. He looked into her eyes and saw the distrust there…and the fear that she'd be labelled a freak, he knew that feeling "Does it hurt?"

She shook her head "Not now" she sighed "Let me shower and I'll explain what I know"

He nodded and removed his fingers from her scar "I'm …you did that on purpose"

"You gave me the shits….sorry" she smiled weakly.

He looked at her "It was more than that….but you explain it to me later" he turned…

"Dean…" he turned back "Who put Zeke's journal in the… in with me?" he smiled at her and walked out, closing the broken door behind him.

They sat around the kitchen table a half hour later. They'd moved from beer to tequila and no one was saying anything, they were just staring at her.

She sighed "Okay…I know you're freaked out…"

"Freaked out? We _buried_ you!" said Sam "After you shot yourself in the heart mind you!"

"Sammy, settle down and let her tell it" said Dean as he filled Jay's glass with tequila again.

She nodded gratefully "Alright. Shit. I don't know exactly where to start…."

Gus laughed "Go with the cliché, start at the beginning" he threw back his tequila.

She nodded "Don't know a lot about early stuff…but Zeke and I grew up in an orphanage when our parents died. Didn't know I had this…whatever the hell it is, until I was hit by a car when I was eleven. It should've killed me. It didn't of course. The doctors couldn't believe it either, they figured I was extremely lucky" she took a big sip of tequila "It was just little things I noticed…I mean I _never _get sick, not a cold…nothing. But …here let me show you. Anyone got a knife?" Dean took a dagger from his boot and passed it to her "Ta. Watch" she opened her hand and winced as she made a long cut across her palm.

"Jesus…." said Sam.

"Just watch" she grabbed an old tea-towel and cleaned the blood and the three men watched as the wound slowly closed. It took about five minutes.

"Fuck me…" Sam looked at her "Do it again"

She laughed "No. I keep the scars. See?" and she pulled down her t-shirt and showed them the scar from the bullet wound.

"So, you're like…immortal?" asked Sam incredulously.

She laughed out loud "No, Sam. Zeke looked into it a bit for me, what with doing what he does and all" They all noticed how she still referred to him in the present tense but said nothing. "I don't know who he spoke to, he wouldn't tell me, just said it was someone who knew about this kind of stuff. He told Zeke that from what he knew, the only thing he believed would kill me was decapitation"

"Swords…" said Dean.

"Or anything of the like, I'd imagine. Kinda don't want to test that theory"

"What about Zeke? What…he must have had something…some gift…" asked Gus.

"He was a little tight-lipped about it. But from what I could gather from the guy he hunted with, Zeke had a way of…'sniffing' demons out he said. Knew where they were. They couldn't explain it any better than that"

"Just like Dean" said Sam.

She raised an eyebrow "Really?"

He shrugged "Apparently. Only found out about it yesterday"

Gus had been silent for a while "So, did Zeke say anything about someone hunting him? Shooting at him?"

She shook her head "Not to me, but then he wouldn't either" she gave a short smile "He wouldn't want me to worry"

"I don't think they'd have hunted him like that" he looked at Jay "You don't hunt"

She shook her head "I'm a …." she laughed "Really doesn't matter does it? But Zeke made sure I knew how to handle weapons" she looked at Dean "What is it?"

Dean looked at Gus "I think _they_ challenged _him_. Not the other way round. They'd have known bullets wouldn't kill her, they'd have _wanted_ a sword fight…..for the…decapitation thing"

"Aaah, in the room" she said "What the hell are you talking about?"

Dean looked at her "These demons _know_ about our…gifts. Going after you with a sword would be the only way to kill you"

"But I don't hunt. What threat am I to them? And really, when you think about it, what am I gonna do? Heal myself to death?"

Sam smiled "You want to kill these bastards that killed your brother?"

"That _have_ my brother….and yeah" she said.

"You're a threat. They may not have known you weren't a hunter. They'd have seen you two together and assumed you hunted with him. The only way to kill you is with a sword. So…." Sam trailed off, letting that sink in.

"And Zeke …" she picked up her tequila and stared at it "He'd have had no choice but to accept?"

"Yeah"

She nodded "The mark"

"To keep you alive" said Dean.

She looked at them "I know you think I'm in denial, but I _know_ he's not dead."

"Jay…the way this works…"

Jay shook her head "No, Gus. I _know_"

Gus shook his head "You need to understand. You're _alive _and the _only _way that's possible is if Zeke…"

"NO!" she slammed her glass down on the table. It shattered in her hand, the glass flying in all directions.

"Shit!" Dean put a hand to his face.

"Jesus! I'm sorry" she stood up "Sorry" she turned and walked quickly outside.

Dean took his hand from his face "It's only a small cut, right Sammy?"

Sam took the tea-towel and cleaned his brother's cheek "Yeah…it's….:" he stopped and watched as the wound slowly closed.

"It's what, Sammy?" he looked at his brother "What?!"

"It's gone" said Sam.

**_To be continued..._**


	9. Childs Play

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything, story is all mine)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Nine.**

Dean stared at Sam "What the fuck do you mean it's gone?" he put his hand to his cheek.

"Gone, dude. As in not there. Healed up" said Sam as he stared at his brother's face.

"Just like her" mused Gus. "Interesting"

Dean shook his head "That's not possible…"

"Fuck me, Dean! She just freakin' well rose from the dead! What do you mean it's not possible?" he laughed "Time travelling demons you believe in. But not this"

Dean got up from the chair and went to the bathroom. He looked at his face in the mirror, there was a tiny scar along his cheekbone. No open wound. He stared into the mirror for a long time before washing his hands and then the blood from his face. What had she done to him? He turned from the mirror and went to find her.

Sam and Gus sat at the table, they'd seen Dean walk out and figured he was going to talk to Jay about what had just happened and thought it best to let them sort it out.

Gus looked at Sam and smiled "You know, this could probably work in Dean's favour"

"Yeah, that whole decapitation thing is a _real_ plus" said Sam as he threw back more tequila.

Gus laughed "I think we just found out why she's here, Sam. Listen, when Dean fights tomorrow, if he's injured…cut or stabbed, he will heal. _Heal_, Sam. That's an advantage. They'll think he's weakened and they'll drop their guard, believing they've got him. They won't _know_ his body will heal itself. He can use that"

"Well from the look on his face when he left, I don't think he's too happy about it" Sam grinned, it was gonna be a hell of a fight.

------------

Dean found Jay sitting on the trunk of her car reading the journal. She'd switched the Hendrix to AC/DC and even though it was loud, he _knew _she'd heard him come out of the house but she ignored him. The bitch. She'd _infected_ him and now she was ignoring him.

"HEY!"

Jay looked up from the journal, saw the look on Dean's face and went back to reading. Yeah, like she wanted to deal with _that_ right now. She was looking for something she knew she'd read in the journal, that last conversation had stirred something in her memory, something Zeke had written. Unfortunately for her, most of his scribblings were in some weird bloody _'Zeke-code' _that she was still trying to decipher. Eccentric bastard. His IQ was off the bloody scale and…

The journal was ripped out of her hands "HEY!"

"What the _hell_ did you do to me?"

"Give me back my journal!" she jumped off the car and reached for it but Dean held it high above his head "GIVE IT BACK!"

"Not until you tell me what you did to me!"

"What the _fuck_ are you talking about? I accidentally cut you with the glass…you hear the word '_accidentally'_ I used? I'm sorry okay? Now give me back my journal!"

"No! Look!" he pointed to the scar on his cheek "Look! No cut, a scar! A fucking scar! What the hell did you do to me?"

"What did I do to you? I don't know what…."

"I can't fucking well heal myself!" he laughed "Well not since I got a blood transfusion I'm guessing!"

She glared at him, it was all becoming quite clear "So, you think…"

"You infected me!" he yelled.

"Infected…lovely. Give me my journal back NOW, arsehole!"

"Or what? You'll kick me in the balls?"

"No" she kicked him hard in the shin.

"OWW!!" he grabbed his shin and looked at her "What are you? Six?" she snatched the journal from him and kicked him in his other shin "OWW!! Stop it!"

She glared at him "I _infected _you?" she kicked him again.

"Stop freakin' well kicking me!"

She slapped him upside the head "Better?"

"Bitch!"

"That's _infectious _bitch to you!" she turned from him, he grabbed her by the arm and spun her round to face him.

"Oh no you don't! You tell me _everything_ you know about this…this…"

"Disease? Is that the word you're looking for?" she wrenched her arm free and poked him in the chest "Well let me tell _you_ something, Winchester! I didn't _ask _for this and I sure as shit didn't know I'd _infect_ you, as you so nicely put it! Your brother _begged_ me to help you and I was stupid enough to listen to him!"

"Yeah, you got that right!" he stepped back in case she tried to kick him again.

"Well this has been a wonderful experience for me too! But as much as I've enjoyed it, I'm off!" she turned and marched back into the house.

He caught up with her as she was walking out of the cabin, her duffel bag thrown over her shoulder "And where do you think you're going?"

"Away from you lot. In case you forgot, I have to find my brother and if you _say_ it, Winchester, I'll kick you again"

He grinned "He's…OWW!! Will you stop _doing_ that?!"

Sam had come out to the porch, he was leaning against the railing, laughing at them "Pull her hair!" he shouted. They glared at him which only made him laugh harder.

She pushed past Dean, threw her bag in the back of her car, went and put the hood down after checking the engine and walked to the driver's door. She turned back and looked at Dean "I know you think I'm a bitch…and you're probably right on that score…but I hope you win tomorrow…for both yours and Sam's sake"

Sam jogged down the stairs "Jay, wait" he went over to her and smiled "Please don't kick me but…stay"

She shook her head "I've wasted too much time already"

"And where exactly are you gonna go?" he asked.

Dean laughed "Yeah, it's not like you can just knock on Hell's door and say _'Excuse me, you haven't seen my brother have you?'_"

Sam turned to Dean "Stop helping" he turned back to Jay and didn't notice the face Dean pulled behind his back.

Jay did "What are you? Six?" Dean gave her the finger.

Gus had had enough. He walked down the stairs and slapped Dean upside the head, then walked over and did the same to Jay, ignoring their protests "If you're gonna act like children, I'll treat you like children. Both of you, inside the house" Jay and Dean started to protest "NOW!"

"And what if I don't want to?" she asked defiantly.

Gus kicked her in the shin.

"OWW!!"

Dean laughed and Jay threw her journal at him, smacking him in the face and breaking his nose. He grabbed his face and yelled.

She walked over, picked up her journal and smiled at him "Don't worry, it'll _heal_" and she walked into the cabin.

Sam walked over to Dean and smiled "Oh, I _like _her" he patted his brother on the shoulder and followed Jay into the house.

-------------

They sat around the kitchen table _again_, Dean and Jay sitting opposite each other, glaring. She'd been right though, his nose_ had_ healed. Perfectly.

Gus looked at them "Don't make me slap you both again. Dean, you've got a fight to organise and Jay, you're going to help him"

"No I'm not" she said.

"She's helped enough" Jay gave him the finger and he gave it back.

Sam laughed "You're a match made in…" he stopped when he saw the looks on their faces "Oookaaay then"

"You two are gonna stop acting like children and you're going to help him Jay" said Gus.

"What's in it for me?" she asked.

"Dean and Sam will help you find your brother once this is over" he'd stated.

"Bullshit" said Dean.

Jay got up "You really are an arsehole"

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you, dude? This healing stuff is a _good_ thing. If you get hurt tomorrow, you'll heal! It'll work _for _you"

"Well how fast am I gonna heal after being stabbed, dude?" asked Dean "Stabbed in the middle of a sword fight!"

Jay grinned "Let's test it"

Dean grinned back "I'd be happy to stab you"

Sam laughed "You mean with a sword right, dude?"

"No, Sammy. With my di..…" Jay reached over and slapped him….. and he slapped her back.

Sam looked at Gus "Yeah, this is gonna work out _real_ well" they both sighed, got up and separated Jay and Dean.

------------

After Gus gave them both a talking to while Sam watched on, laughing his ass off and threatening to send them to the 'time-out' chair, they'd all gone outside so Dean could get in some practice. Gus handed Jay a sword.

She grinned at him "Can I stab Dean? Pleeeease?"

"I heard that!" he said.

"Wasn't whispering!" she retorted.

"No, you can't stab him" Gus turned to Dean "And you can't stab her either" he had to laugh at the looks of disappointment on both their faces.

"You used a sword before?" Dean asked derisively.

She rolled her eyes "I know you're used to having your dick in your hand but that's a sword..." she turned to Sam's laughter at the same time Dean struck out at her. She screamed when the sword pierced her stomach.

"Jesus Christ! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Dean dropped the tip of the sword and took a step towards her.

"You bastard" and she struck quickly, returning the favour before she felt a blackness overwhelm her.

-----------

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Dean was sitting in a chair next to her bed, watching her.

"Hey" he said.

"Hey" she sat up slowly and groaned. She lifted her t-shirt and looked at the scar "Lovely" She lifted up the sheets "Where are my pants?"

He grinned "Had to throw 'em out…blood and such"

"Where's my bag?"

He grinned and pointed "Over there"

"Pass it to me"

He grinned again "Nope"

She stared and he just grinned.

"Perve" she got up, went to her bag, grabbed some jeans and put them on. She turned round and he was still smiling "Stop smiling. I don't like you, remember?"

He grinned "Yeah you do"

"No I don't. You stabbed me"

"You stabbed _me" _he laughed "Look…shit, never mind" he sighed "Truce?"

She paused, sighed "Okay…and why does my head hurt?"

He smiled "Sam knocked you out for the stabbing thing"

"Of course" she slipped her boots on and sat back down on the bed and looked at him "Dean, I didn't know that would happen. If I had, I wouldn't have done it."

He nodded "Yeah, I know but if you hadn't…well Sam reckons I'd be dead. It'd have been a catch-22 anyway" he shrugged "Can't do anything about it, can I?" she shook her head "Didn't think so.

She looked at him seriously "There's something I need to tell you about it" she took his hand "The guy Zeke spoke to…he said….shit."

Dean's stomach flipped "What? What'd he say?"

She shook her head "He told Zeke that I was lucky I was a girl cause if I was a guy…" she looked into his eyes "I'm sorry…but you'll never get a hard-on again…it's a side-effect apparently" she watched as the colour slowly drained from his face. He looked at her and she grinned "Gotchya!"

She jumped off the bed and ran out the door, his laughter and trail of obscenities following her.

---------

She sat on the porch steps reading the journal as Sam and Dean practiced in the yard. Gus came out of the cabin and sat next to her, passing her a coffee "Thanks"

He nodded "You find what you're looking for?"

She shook her head "Not yet, but it's in here" he nodded "So it's five minutes for a cut to heal, and fifteen minutes for a stab wound"

Gus nodded "But that stab wound was bad, I'd guess one to the shoulder, say, would take less time"

"It's still a bloody long time during a sword fight and if it hit an artery, he'd be screwed"

"You seem to heal more quickly than him…"

"Makes sense. I'm like the …motherboard. Dean's only got…..ohhh no" she shook her head "No way. We've only just made a scary kind of peace…and who's to say it would work?"

"It's worth a shot, Jay. He's gonna need all the help he can get, he's good, much better than I thought he'd be but he has to fight and kill _eight_ of them. You understand how tired he'll be and…."

"Have you spoken to him about it?" she looked at Gus "Yeah, didn't think so"

"Jay…"

"I'm not a freakin' cow, Gus. You can't just milk me and _hope_ it works"

He laughed "Jay, you're here for a reason. I think it's to make sure that the demons don't get the last of this type of hunter. If they do, then _everything_ will change. We lose the upper hand we have and slowly, slowly _they_ will take a greater hold here" he paused and looked at her "Why do you think they want Dean and Sam? Why they wanted your brother? Because they're a _danger_ to them. They're a new warrior. The hunters are evolving and the demons don't like that. We've never had an insight into their world…and now we do and we'll use it against them. How determined do you think they are?"

"But according to you, no matter what happens tomorrow…Sam is safe. The pact Dean made ensures that, right?"

Gus nodded "You're living proof of that" he smiled "pardon the pun"

She nodded and turned her attention back to the journal. Gus watched her for a bit before getting up and heading towards Dean and Sam with two more swords.

Jay looked up and watched Gus as he walked towards the Winchesters. He was wrong. Sam _wasn't _safe. And if Sam wasn't safe, then neither was she. She couldn't understand how they didn't see it. Why would the demons accept a trade like that? Dean's soul for Sam's life? Zeke's soul for hers? No. If they wanted these _'new warriors'_ as Gus called them, out of the way, and if what Gus said was right, that they were the last of their kind, then leaving she and Sam alive went against that whole argument. Something was wrong with this whole scenario. If even a _little_ of what she knew about demons was right, then something else was at play here. She knew it and she was sure Zeke knew it as well.

She went back to reading, the answer would be in here…and she needed to know why Dean had chosen the exact same pact as her brother.

**_To be continued..._**


	10. Pacts

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything, story is mine though)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Ten.**

_He'd lost all track of time. He laughed hollowly, there **was** no time in this place. What seemed like an eternity may well have been only five minutes…or it could have been an eternity, he just didn't know anymore. What he **did **know was **where** he was,...he just didn't know **when** he was. And that really **was** the kicker._

_His arms and shoulders were completely numb. Being suspended four feet off the floor for …well for a bloody long time, ensured that. He shuddered as another small creature crawled over his skin, taking it's time, inspecting his wounds; it's many legs like fire on his skin, it's scaly body pulsing a deep red as its antennae quivered in anticipation . He tried to shake it from him, but the cold, damp, slime-covered wall at his back made it difficult. He screamed as the creature crawled under his skin._

_The slap to his face bought him back. They'd returned. It was starting again. He concentrated and changed his mind set; he had to if he was going to survive this. They removed the chains from his wrists and let him drop to the floor. His legs buckled under his weight and when his arms dropped to his sides he gave a low yell as pain shot through his shoulders and up his neck. Two of them dragged him to his feet, throwing him into '**the chair';** the chair they always sat him in when it was time for a **'talk'**. _

_They strapped his ankles and wrists like they always did and then **'he'** came over. It was always the same one. The demon took a chair, turned it round and sat in front of him, resting his arms across it's back; the nasty grin he always wore seeming wider this time. This 'talk' was gonna be a **bad** one. _

"_You know why I'm here'_

"_Go fuck yourself!"_

"_Tut, tut. Language" he grinned at the man strapped in the chair. He hated mortals, hunters especially so, but he had a grudging respect for this one. To have lasted as long as he had without breaking…well, it was no wonder they needed these warriors out of the way. _

"_Now we could go over the same questions we always do but I'm guessing I'd get the same answers" He grinned as he wiped the man's spit from his face. He cocked his head at the prisoner "Are you lonely?"_

"_Fuck you!"_

_He laughed at the man "I'm guessing you probably are. Down here by yourself, no one to talk to…no one to share your pain…it **must** get lonely" he grinned "Well you'll have company soon enough"_

"_You leave…"_

_Lothar slapped the man "You make **no** demands here! You should have understood what you were doing. What the mark **really **meant." he laughed "You didn't…and neither does he" He laughed at the expression on the man's face. "That's right, you're getting a room-mate. And then…then we can go after the other two. No restrictions."_

"_You bastard!"_

_Lothar got up, passed his chair to one of the other demons and rolled up his sleeves. He looked at the man in front of him "This is just for fun"_

_He screamed and held fast to the image of his sister._

-------------

Jay was still sitting on the porch steps reading the journal when Sam and Dean came up, the coffee beside her, now cold. She didn't notice them, she was engrossed in something Zeke had written. She'd been reading the same page for about an hour now and was scribbling on a page at the back of the journal, switching from reading to writing, the frown that creased her forehead getting deeper.

Dean and Sam watched as her eyes flew across the page, chewing the end of the pen before flicking to a back page and scribbling. She'd been sitting out there for hours, every time they'd glanced over, she'd been there, she hadn't moved from the spot, she was either reading or writing. Damn, she was obsessed.

She looked up when a shadow fell across the page, they were smiling at her "What?"

Sam grinned "Do you eat, go to the toilet…anything normal people do?"

She smiled "Yeah, like you two are normal" she shut the journal, stood and groaned "My arse hurts" Dean raised an eyebrow, she looked at him "Don't say it"

He grinned "You're no fun" he turned at Sam "You think I should stab her again? Loosen her up a little?"

Sam stared at Dean "Hysterical"

Jay smiled "And you mean with a sword right? We've discussed the side-effect of…"

"Oh that was hilarious. You don't _ever_ make jokes about that, that's sacred stuff" said Dean in all seriousness.

She rolled her eyes "Yeah, I'm sure many have worshiped at the 'Church of Dean'…"

He grinned at her "You know we could always test that side-effect…."

She laughed "Not gonna happen, Dean. Keep it in your pants"

Sam laughed "You don't know my brother at all, do you?"

Gus opened the door to the cabin "Quit your yapping and get inside. Foods getting cold"

"Yes, Mum. Do we need to wash our hands as well?" asked Jay.

Gus grinned "You just volunteered for dish duty"

"Crap" she turned and walked into the cabin, Dean and Sam following her.

-----------

Jay sat and stared in amazement as she watched Dean eat, her fork suspended in mid-air as she tried to comprehend exactly what it was she was seeing. She looked at Sam and he shrugged embarrassedly at her.

"Aaah, would you like a shovel Dean?" she asked.

He looked up from his plate "Huh?"

She laughed, he was completely unaware of what he was doing "Nothing. Enjoy your food" he nodded and got back to it.

"Breathe, dude!" said Sam with a laugh.

"Can't. Eating." and back to it he went.

Gus picked up his beer and turned to Jay "So, you figure it out yet?"

Jay put food in her mouth and chewed slowly, shaking her head.

He smiled "You know, you're not a very good liar"

That remark stopped them, even Dean.

Sam laughed "It's a miracle!" and he swore as Dean smacked him across the back of the head.

"Well?" asked Gus, putting a hand over hers as she went to put more food in her mouth.

She put her fork down, wiped at her mouth with a napkin before picking up her beer and taking a long swig. Sam turned to Dean "That can't be good"

She pushed her plate of food away and laughed softly when she saw Dean eyeing it "Go for it" she said. He grinned, grabbed her plate and slid her food onto his.

She looked into three sets of expectant eyes and sighed "Okay, I'm not _entirely _sure as Zeke has a …strange way of writing things. Doesn't actually come right out and say what he means, you just have to try and figure it out" she sighed again "From what I can gather, he knew _someone_ was after him and therefore after me, which makes me understand why he didn't want me to come to the States in the first place"

Sam smiled "But you obviously ignored him"

She gave a short smile "Yeah, he wasn't too pleased when I turned up, we had a hell of a screaming match"

Dean laughed "I'll bet"

"Yeah, yeah…I'm a bitch. I get it. But once he calmed down, then he wouldn't let me out of his sight. We stayed indoors a lot …indoors or on the road… heaps. He said he was just showing me the country but I know my brother better than _anyone_. He was worried, not for him, for _me_ and he wouldn't tell me shit, just kept fobbing me off. When it was time for me to go home, he was relieved ... which led to another fight" she shook her head "The last thing I said to him was to 'go fuck himself, that I never wanted to see him again'"

They looked uncomfortably away.

"Anyway, his journal arrived just before I was due to get on the plane for home. I've been studying it for two years, trying to track him. But I found this" she got up and retrieved the journal from the lounge. She sat and put the journal on the table. Dean pushed his plate away and burped loudly. She laughed "Nice" He grinned.

"Okay…I think Zeke knew _exactly_ what was going on. Maybe more than those demons do. He's a freakin' genius, my brother, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his sister. His IQ is genius level, which kinda explains all the ramblings"

Dean smiled "Kinda like you are now…avoiding something are we?"

She gave him the finger "Why'd you choose _that_ pact, Dean? I've looked it up, there are plenty of others you could have used. Why that one specifically?"

He shrugged "It was the first one I found"

She laughed "Who's avoiding something now? Look Dean, you chose the _exact_ same pact as Zeke, what are the chances of that? Seriously? It'd be like one in a million. Which means it's not a co-incidence"

"I told you…" started Dean.

"Jesus, Dean. You're almost as bad a liar as she is" said Gus.

"Hey!" said Dean and Jay in unison.

Dean grinned "Jinx"

She shook her head at him "You're a child"

He reached over and punched her in the arm "You're not allowed to speak"

"Say my name or I'll stab you with a fork" she smiled sweetly at him.

"Alrighty, _Jaaaay_" he picked up his fork, looked at it and smiled at her.

"Do it, I dare you" she yelled and wrenched the fork out of her arm and drove it into his hand where it was his turn to yell "For fuck's sake! I was kidding!" she yelled at him.

"You _dared_ me!" he pulled the fork out of his hand and watched as the holes healed. He looked at Jay and grinned "You know it _is_ kinda cool"

"YOU TWO ARE FREAKS!" yelled Sam.

"HEY!" they yelled at Sam.

"Stop fucking well stabbing each other! It's not a game! And it's freaking me and Gus out!"

Jay laughed "Aww, come on Sam. I haven't had anyone to play with in a long time"

Dean grinned at her "Stab me again"

"Jay!"

She turned to Gus "What?!"

"Once upon a time yourself! Dean, don't stab her anymore! Sam, stop acting like a pussy!"

The three of them looked at Gus and cracked up.

Gus sighed and muttered to himself "And this is why I never had kids"

Dean laughed "Yeah, _this_ is why"

"Awww, leave him alone. He's cute… in a grumpy, my-attitude-sucks, I-rarely-wash kinda way" she smiled at him.

Gus raised an eyebrow "You don't have a lot of friends do you?"

She laughed "No"

"I'm not surprised. Now finish your story" he got up and bought fresh beers back to the table.

"Ta. Okay, where was I?"

"Zeke knowing more about this and Dean choosing the same pact as him…" helped Sam

"Yeah, why Dean? That's one of the more obscure ones? And it wouldn't have been the first one you found cause it's hidden in between a lot of other ones. Almost as if it doesn't_ want_ to be found. So tell me, why that one?"

"No bullshit, dude"

Dean sighed inwardly. What was he going to tell them? He didn't _know_ why he chosen that one. It was more like it chose _him_. That was the best way he could explain it. He'd gone through one of the many books Gus had and that one seemed to jump out of the page at him. Which probably should have tipped him off but all he could think about was saving Sam. _That_ was all that had mattered. And Jay was right, there _were_ heaps of other ones he could have used but _this_ one…he'd _had_ to use this one.

"I don't know. Don't start arguing with me, Sammy. I don't _know_ why. I just knew that that one, _that_ pact, was the one I had to use"

"Knew how?" she asked.

He shrugged "Just knew…deep-down-inside-knew"

"You knew what you had to do to make it come into play? The offering?"

"Aaah, yeah…you picked me up from the side of the road remember? Blood transfusion…etc etc etc?"

"Offering? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Sam.

Jay shook her head "You have no idea do you, Dean?"

"What?" asked Sam again.

"Dean? Dean, look at me" said Jay. He looked up from the table "You didn't realise what you were doing til it was all over did you?"

"Yeah, I did"

She shook her head "No. You didn't. It doesn't work that way and you know it."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??" yelled Sam.

Jay turned to Sam "I'm not exactly sure, but I think your brother fucked up big time"

**_To be continued..._**


	11. Souls in Peril

(Disclaimer: Don't own the boys or the concept. Do own the story)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Eleven.**

Jay refused to be drawn on the subject any further. No amount of yelling, screaming, threats of violence (she'd laughed hard at _that_ one) would persuade her. She'd already opened up too much to these three and she was at that point of uncomfortableness that always plagued her when her mouth had gotten ahead of her.

Sam had been particularly forceful in his approach, she understood that, but once she decided she was finished with something, there was little anyone could do to change her mind. She'd allowed Sam to yank her from her chair, she didn't say anything, just stared at him as he yelled at her, shaken her, his face inches from hers. It had taken Dean and Gus fifteen minutes to convince him to let her go. The fact that she'd remained calm during the whole encounter only served to piss Sam off more.

Gus had tried to reason with her and she listened to his argument, nodding in all the right places until finally turning to him and saying 'No'. His exasperated curses were still filling the air as he stormed to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Dean had pretty much let her be. He wanted answers….but didn't. Wanted to know what it was she'd half-figured out…but didn't. Wanted confirmation of his suspicions…but didn't. Wanted to know how she fit into all of this…that was an answer he _did_ want, he just didn't know how to voice the question.

He'd tried to convince her to take his bed but agreed that Sam would probably try to kill her in her sleep….then they'd laughed at the irony of that and she'd taken the couch while he headed to his room, leaving his door ajar in case she decided to do a runner.

He'd lain in bed listening to her move around the house, make coffee (he'd laughed quietly when she burned her tongue on the hot liquid and swore), he heard her put more wood on the fire and then the scratching of pen against paper. He listened to that for a long time before he heard her pad quietly back to the kitchen, wash her cup and then the sound of her footsteps getting closer to the room. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, not wanting her to know he'd been listening.

He heard her move away from the door, the sound of her rummaging through her bag and then, after a few minutes, the squeak of the couch as she settled herself. He tried to concentrate on what tomorrow would bring. This was going to be the biggest battle of his life…of his _brothers _life but something was niggling at the back of his mind…something he knew was in that journal of hers. Her journal. Hers. Her.

He waited another hour before he slowly rose from the bed. He slipped his jeans on, walked quietly to the door and peeked around. She was asleep on her stomach, one hand resting on the floor, the other tucked underneath the pillow, a leg hanging precariously off the edge of the lounge. He saw a scar that stretched from the side of her knee and ran up under the blanket that half-covered her. He edged slowly towards her bag, the journal _had_ to be in there. He watched for any indication that she wasn't asleep but her breathing was even ...he had to do this quickly.

He crouched near her bag, pulling the zipper back as quietly as possible, glancing repeatedly towards her. He opened the bag and looked around, _dammit_, it wasn't in there. Where the hell could it be? Knowing her, it was probably under the damn pillow. He looked over at her and stopped, she was staring at him, a small smile playing around her lips "I can play possum just as well as you can, Dean"

He sat back on his heels and tried a smile, it didn't really work. She sat up, pulling her legs underneath her and the blanket around her. She patted the couch next to her and he got slowly to his feet "Beer?" She nodded and he came back with two and sat next to her.

"I'll answer what I can" she said quietly.

He didn't say anything for a long time. She waited him out. She knew he was struggling, trying to come to terms with what he'd done. Not quite understanding what it was and she wasn't completely sure either but the little she'd worked out from Zeke's clues…wasn't good. Wasn't good at all.

"I don't know if I want answers to my questions" he said, not looking at her as he sipped his beer.

"Fair enough. What is it you _do_ want then? And if you _go_ there, I'll slap you" she laughed quietly as he grinned at her "You just can't help yourself can you?"

"Nope"

"Dean…"

He sighed "Whatever we discuss, you _cannot_ tell Sammy. Promise me"

She got up, pulling the blanket around her and went and shut the door to his room "Don't check out my arse"

"Too late"

She heard the grin in his voice as she turned. She shook her head with a smile and went and sat next to him. "I promise. Now go"

"I … how did you know I wasn't….." he trailed off.

"In control?" she asked and he nodded. She reached under her pillow and removed the journal, he had to smile. She smiled back "Where else was I gonna keep it?" she flicked open to a page and leaned towards him "Here…Zeke wrote _'Small Pinnochio'_ "

He frowned "I don't like puppets…small _or_ large".

She laughed "Me either. They're unnatural. But you _did_ get the puppet part right. The 'small' bit took me a while to figure out. Small, tiny…com_pact_." She looked at him "I'm guessing it means that you were like a puppet during the pact. Not in control of your actions" he nodded slowly "But the problem here is, Dean...Zeke, he wrote this _before_ he made the pact. He _knew_ but he did it anyway." She shifted on the couch "And then here" she pointed to the page again.

Dean leaned over and looked "Pocket money?" he looked at her and she pointed to the page again "A Phoenix Remington? What the _hell _is he talking about?"

She laughed softly "See what I'm dealing with?"

He shook his head and sipped his beer, trying to ignore the feel of her leg against his "Jesus, he's worse than Dad"

"Okay _that_ makes no sense to me but I can maybe guess what Zeke was trying to say" she shifted on the couch, sitting cross-legged, her journal open between the two of them "Alright, what's pocket money?"

He groaned "Don't make me guess. Just tell me"

She smiled "Nope. Self-realisation is a _good _thing. Now tell me"

He sighed, she just couldn't help but be annoying, he smiled, sipped his beer and thought on it "Pocket money….cash for chores….cash…." he smiled "alms…an offering"

She smiled "One hundred dollars to the man in the back row. And Phoenix?"

He grinned "Well that's easy. It…" he stopped, the smile now gone from his face.

"Yeah"

"Shit. It rises from the flames…reborn" he took a long swig of beer.

She watched him as she saw the realisation sink in. She went to take his hand but thought better of it. He turned to her "Remington?"

She smiled "Oh come on…that's the easy part" she waited, he said nothing "Remington? What's the most common use of the word 'Remington' you know?" he shrugged "Dean….."

"Winchester. And you can keep your hundred bucks"

"There's more"

He laughed "Of course there is" he got up suddenly, went to the kitchen and came back with the bottle of tequila and sat back down. He took a looong swig and offered her the bottle. "I'm gonna have a hell of a hangover tomorrow"

She took the bottle and drank "Actually, you won't. One of the benefits of self-healing. So drink up, I say" she grinned and handed the bottle back. "Now speaking of…" she paused, this was where it got tricky "I think Zeke knew we were gonna cross paths…somewhere down the line"

"_What?"_

"Look, this is all supposition on my part. But…you've never heard of Zeke before right?"

"Nope, but then we wouldn't know all the hunters that are around" he paused "Though an Australian working over here you'd think would spread pretty quickly through the community"

"So how would he know about you? You mentioned your Dad earlier…he's a hunter as well I'm guessing"

Dean shook his head "Was"

"Shit. I'm sorry, I didn't know" he nodded "I think… maybe the man Zeke spoke with about my …_gift_, was your Dad" he looked at her "Yeah, I know it's a leap but how else would he know about you?"

"My Dad wouldn't have told your brother anything about us. He wouldn't"

"Are you sure?" she flicked to another page "Look"

He looked, it was a phone number…well co-ordinates disguised as a phone number. Co-ordinates for that crappy town and the word _'nativity'_ "Nativity?" he asked.

"The co-ordinates are for this town, how would Zeke know about this place? It's in the middle of freakin' _nowhere_. It's not even _on_ most maps. But here you and Sam are"

"And nativity? 'Fess up" he drank again.

"Yeah, well…that means birth"

He looked at the co-ordinates then back to her "It's your _birthday_ today?"

She looked at her watch "Well… yesterday"

He grinned "You killed yourself on your birthday"

She laughed softly "Saves money on the headstone inscription"

He shook his head at her "And Zeke _sent_ you here…on your birthday?"

"I'm guessing the birthday thing was just co-incidence but...he must have figured out the date you were gonna make the pact,...don't ask me how"

"So…"

"He knew you'd be there"

"And he sent you to help because he…."

"Knew you'd do the same thing he did. Now whether he wanted me to stop you or to help you …I don't know. The fact that he _knew_ you'd be here and _when _you'd be here is hard enough for me to get my head around. He's been missing for _two_ years"

"Is this the first time you've been past here?"

"Yeah, I only worked this birthday thing out day before yesterday, drove like a crazy woman to get here. Didn't know what I was looking for…and then I saw you"

"And you knew?"

She laughed "No, actually I didn't. But …" she shrugged "I think Zeke knew I'd stop. He knows I do stupid things like pick up strangers and stuff." She looked at him "But we're avoiding the big question aren't we?"

"Are we?" he took three big gulps of tequila and passed her the bottle.

"Dean"

"Drink up. No hangover remember?"

She took a big swig of tequila "Well?"

"What do you want me to say? That I was _meant_ to pick this pact so that _you_ would find me and give me the ability to heal myself so that I can beat these bastards? That you were _sent_ here by your brother who, by all accounts has spent the last two years in '_Hell'_ . How could he _possibly _know? Huh?"

"Shhh. You'll wake Sam" she paused "Look, I don't know _how_ he knew but he _knew_. I think he knew about the other hunters that were like him…like you and Sam. I think he also knew that you three were the last one's left. That you would do the same thing for Sam that he did for me…"

"And he wanted to stop me"

She shook her head slowly "I don't think so. And would I have been able to?"

"No"

"Didn't think so. I wouldn't have been able to stop Zeke either. You're just as stubborn as he is"

He gave her a short smile "So what is it then?"

"You know Dean"

He sighed "Tell me anyway" he took the tequila from her and drank heartily.

She watched him drink, knowing he wanted to hear the words from somewhere else, that hearing it spoken in another voice would make it more real "It's the Phoenix part" he nodded "Rising from the flames"

He looked at the tequila bottle "I didn't trade my soul"

"No. You traded Sam's"

This time she did take his hand.

**_To be continued..._**

**_(Note: This story has about three or four chapters til it's finished. Just letting you know that the end really IS in sight. ...grins...)_**


	12. Sins of the Father

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything, story is all mine)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Twelve.**

Dean and Jay sat like that for a long time, neither of them saying anything, both lost in their own thoughts, passing the tequila bottle back and forth as they tried to digest everything.

Dean wondered what he'd done to his brother. Sammy, whom he loved more than he could ever tell him, _would_ ever tell him. Sammy, who trusted him unconditionally. And now he'd done the unthinkable. The unforgivable. And the woman sitting next to him, holding his hand…was in the same place as his brother. He was in the same place as hers.

He finally looked up at her "Why would he not want you to stop me? Why would he trade _your_ soul? I didn't _know_ what I was doing…he did" he paused "Aren't you pissed at him?"

She smiled "No. There's always been method to Zeke's madness. I have to trust that. There's more to it, I just haven't figured it out yet" she leaned over and looked at the mark on his chest "You did that? To yourself?"

He nodded "Had to"

"What else? I mean did you have to say anything?"

"No…I mean, you read the pact. It was just the mark…." he frowned slightly.

"But?"

"But…I remember saying something, whispering something….I can't remember what though"

"You need to remember" she squeezed his hand "I think it's more important than you realise"

"More important? I traded my brother's _soul!_"

"Shhh, Dean"

He shook his head and sighed "And what about you? What about _your _soul?"

"Still got it. Which means that Zeke's still alive"

"You don't know that"

She smiled "Yeah, I do. Zeke knew what he was doing. He wouldn't just hand over my soul, he'd die before he did that" she looked at him "Dean you have to understand that I _know_ my brother.

"Which means they're using me and Zeke to get to you and Sam. To make sure they get the last of us"

She nodded "It's my fault. The healing thing. If I'd been an easy kill…then he'd never have had to do that and you and Sam wouldn't be in the shit you are now" she looked at him "I'm sorry"

He shook his head "Not your fault, like you said, you didn't ask for this" he looked at her "You're sure Zeke's alive" she nodded "Positive?" She nodded again, took the bottle and drank a large amount, he had to smile "So tell me, how could your brother possibly be in Hell if he's not dead?"

"That's the part I haven't figured out yet. But you need to get some sleep. You've got a big fight tomorrow, you need to rest"

"And you?" he asked.

"I'll read for a while, try and figure this out"

"I'm too wired to sleep"

"Dean…"

"No" he reluctantly let go of her hand, picked up the journal and started to read.

----------

Sam woke slowly and stretched. He looked towards the window, dawn…he could see the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. His stomach flipped as he thought about the day ahead, the day that would define both his and Dean's lives. He thought back to last night…oh, he and Jay would be having a _serious_ chat about what was going on. He didn't care if he had to beat it out of her, she healed, she'd be fine…and it would make _him_ feel a whole lot better as well. He turned his head and saw his brother's empty bed. Strange. Dean was _never_ up at this time of the morning…but then again, today wasn't like any other day was it?

He got up, threw jeans and a t-shirt on and went to find his brother. He walked out and stopped. Dean was crashed out on the couch, Jay next to him. He quelled the anger that rose in his stomach at the sight of his brother with _her_. He noticed her open journal, lying pages down on Dean's chest. He crept over to them, looked at the three empty tequila bottles and innumerable empty beer bottles on the table. Oh, those two were gonna have the hangover from hell when they woke. He smiled to himself, although he now had the perfect opportunity to read her book. He gently lifted Jay's hand, slipping the journal out from underneath it and placing her hand softly back on his brother's chest. He saw Dean smile in his sleep and shook his head. Idiot. Didn't Dean see she was trouble…still, at least he'd got his rocks off before…yeah, well he got his rocks off.

He went to the kitchen table and sat down to read. He heard Gus get up a half-hour later, he put a finger to his lips then indicated the couch. Gus walked over and raised an eyebrow when he saw them. He went to the kitchen and poured himself a coffee.

He sat down and whispered "You find anything? Apart from that" he pointed to the couch "Which is seriously messing with my head"

"Yeah, I know" whispered Sam "But…she's figured something out. Something to do with this pact, it's not what it seems. She doesn't come right out and say it…but…there's something"

They turned quickly when they head Dean moan in his sleep, he didn't wake, just pulled Jay against him and settled back.

Sam shook his head "Weird" he turned to Gus "There something in here about her being _'sent' _here. Doesn't say by whom, though" he read a little more. Jesus, she was writing in code too. He stopped, that was _Dean's_ writing. She let _Dean_ write in her journal? He read his brothers handwriting. Great. Now _he_ was writing in freakin' code as well.

Sam read quietly for an hour, casting glances over at the couch every time he heard a movement or sound from either of them. Man, they were _out_. He went back to reading…or trying to _decipher _what he was reading.

Gus' gaze went between the reading Sam and the strange sight of Dean and Jay on the couch. He shook his head. Things just got weirder and weirder. He wanted to wake Dean, get him practicing, but however much he hated to think it, this could be the boys last day here. He sighed and decided to let him sleep. He glanced back at Sam and cocked his head. "What is it, Sam?"

Sam closed the journal slowly, put it down and got up from the table. Gus watched as Sam went into his room, his movements slow and determined. Gus reached over and picked up the journal, trying to find what Sam had just read. He looked up just in time to see Sam jerk Jay out of Dean's arms, pick her up and slam her against the nearest wall.

Gus jumped up "SAM!" he yelled as he saw the boy put a large hunting knife to the woman's throat.

Dean sat up groggily "What the fuck?" he looked around and saw his brother "SAM!"

Sam's face was inches from Jay's "YOU BITCH!"

"Easy, Sam…" Jay managed to choke out.

Sam pushed the knife against her throat "DON'T YOU FUCKING TALK!"

Dean ran over "What the _fuck_ are you doing?"

Sam didn't look at his brother, his rage was focussed on Jay "YOU KNEW! _HE_ KNEW! AND NOW…NOW…" he pushed the knife deeper and blood slowly seeped around the blade.

"SAM! PUT THE KNIFE DOWN! NOW, SAMMY!" yelled Dean.

Sam shook his head "Just because you banged her Dean, doesn't excuse what she did!"

"I didn't _bang_ her, Sam!"

"Bullshit! You'll bang _anything_" said Sam.

"HEY!" yelled Jay "Watch your fucking mouth!"

"Jesus, dude. We still got clothes on! And put the fucking knife down!"

Sam leaned in close "You like how that feels? I _know_ how to kill you, bitch! You've _killed _my brother and now I'm gonna kill you!"

Jay looked at Sam "Do it. Do it, Sam. I'm _sick_ of this. I'm _tired._ You'd be doing me a favour" she looked at him, daring him "Do it"

"Don't you do it, Sammy. You don't know what you're talking about. Trust me on this. Put the knife down, okay?"

"I know! I read what she wrote and I read what _you_ wrote. She _used_ us. Used _you_ to get to her brother" he pushed the knife in a little further "And now…."

Dean put his hand gently on Sam's arm "She didn't use me, Sam. Put the knife down and let me explain…let me and Jay explain okay?"

He shook his head "No…she…."

"She _nothing_, Sam. She didn't know what was going on. Trust me, okay?"

"Bullshit! It ends…"

Gus had finally taken it into his own hands and knocked Sam out "Jesus, Dean! Make him a cup of tea, next time!"

"For fuck's sake, Gus!" he went to his brother and rolled him over gently, pushing the knife out of the way "Sam…Sammy…." He patted lightly at his brother's cheek "Hey, Sammy…come on, dude"

Gus went to Jay "You alright?"

"Yeah, just peachy thanks" she put her fingers to her throat.

"Let me see" he lifted her chin "Shit, okay. You need stitches" he paused "but…do you need stitches?"

"Who the fuck knows, Gus" she slid down the wall and sat, her knees pulled up under her chin. She turned and watched Dean with Sam. This was turning into one big mess. Thanks very fucking much, Zeke. Gus returned with a towel and she put it to her throat. She sighed, on some level she wished Sam _had_ followed through with the threat. She _was_ tired. Tired of living on the road; tired of being alone; tired of not knowing; tired of chasing a ghost. She put her head in her hands to cover her tears.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, she didn't look up "I'm alright, Gus"

"It's not Gus" said Dean.

"I'm alright, Dean. How's Sam?" she asked, still refusing to lift her gaze.

"He's alright. He's coming round now. Let me see your neck"

"I'm fine. Self-healing and all remember?"

He put his hand under her chin and lifted it, he looked at her neck, it was slowly starting to heal. _Very _slowly. It had been at least ten minutes since Sam had cut her neck and the edges of it were only now starting to knit together. He frowned and looked at her "I hate to say this, but…" he grinned "I need to cut you"

"You _need_ to?" she had to smile at him "You sick bastard"

He grinned "Shut up" he reached over and grabbed the hunting knife and turned back to her "Sooo, where would you like the scar?"

"You're hilarious"

"Jay, I need to check something. I wouldn't ask…" he raised an eyebrow.

She sighed "Voodoo-doll me, then" she pointed to the scar on her leg "Just go over that one"

He lifted her chin again, still closing slowly. He put the knife to her thigh and dragged it down, making the cut the same length as the one on her neck.

"Shit! Alrighty, then…" she gritted her teeth.

He looked up at her "Sorry" he looked at his watch and waited. It took three and a half minutes to heal. He cleaned her leg then looked at her neck again. It wasn't even half-way healed yet.

"What?" she asked him.

"You ever had a neck injury before?" she shook her head and winced "Your neck takes longer to heal"

"Vulnerable point" he nodded "Then you keep those bastards away from your neck, Dean" he grinned at her "Now get my jeans, I'm a little cold"

He grinned again "Awww…you're no fun"

----------

They sat at the table, another uneasy silence hanging over them. Sam was holding an icepack to the back of his head and Jay had a bandage around her neck. That wound was taking a _long_ time to heal.

"So explain it to me, Dean? Explain to me how _her _brother, knew about us two fucking years ago! Explain to me how he's _in_ Hell, but _not _dead…and how he needs _you_ to go and get him!"

"That's not exactly right, Sam" said Jay.

"You shut the fuck up, bitch! I read what you wrote…Dean's gonna die this afternoon so he can go get your brother!"

"Back off, arsehole! You read fucking wrong! Shit!" she grabbed at her neck and went to the bathroom.

"Okay, what the _hell_ is going on?" asked Gus "I come out here this morning" he pointed to Sam "He's reading Jay's journal, which we _know _she hates" he turned to Dean "And you two are playing 'happy couples' on the couch! Then Sam goes all Rambo on her ass…."

"On my neck, Gus" said Jay coming out of the bathroom, a new bandage around her neck "And we _weren't _playing 'happy couples'…we just… fell asleep" she shrugged and sat down. She looked at Sam "I didn't _bang_ your brother, okay? And if I _had_, it wouldn't have been any of your damn business"

"Just tell me what the _hell_ you've done!" he yelled.

"_I_ didn't do anything and Dean's _not_ gonna die this afternoon. This fight has nothing to do with Zeke. Zeke is _my_ business! Not yours. Not Dean's. And not Gus'. _Mine_."

"Jay…"

"No, Dean. Mine. You concentrate on your fight. _That's _what you need to do" she turned her attention to Sam "You're right, Zeke _did_ send me here because _your_ Dad wanted me here"

"Bullshit"

"No bullshit, Sammy" he picked up the journal and flicked through the pages, then went and got their Dad's journal from the lounge and opened it "Look at the dates…Dad and Zeke met, Sam. They understood what was going on and they set this in motion"

Sam shook his head "No way. Na-ah. Dad wouldn't…."

"Yeah, Sammy. He did" he looked at Jay "He did a lot more than that".

"What? What the fuck did he do?" asked Sam.

"Your _Dad _sent my brother to Hell!"

**_To be continued..._**


	13. Machinations

(Disclaimer: Don't own the boys or the concept…story is mine)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Thirteen.**

Jay was sitting outside on the hood of her car, nursing a beer. She didn't want to be in there when Dean explained it to them…well explained to them the parts they'd figured out anyway. She knew they were still a long way from figuring it out completely. She laughed. _They._ There WAS no _they_, it was just her. She took another swig of beer and went over it again in her head.

-----------

More beers were opened as Dean, Sam and Gus sat around the table. Both Jay's and John's journals open in front of them.

"That can't be right, Dean. Dad wouldn't _do _that!"

"I didn't believe it either, Sammy. But …shit" he sighed "It's true" he said.

Sam shook his head "No. She just convinced you"

"No. I figured it out _before_ she did, Sam. And then I had to _tell _her, so don't you start arguing with me. I know what I know"

"Tell us, son" said Gus softly.

Dean sighed "We haven't figured it all out yet but from what we can tell, Dad and Zeke met up about six months before Zeke disappeared. I don't know who organised the meet so don't ask. Dad was the one who explained to Zeke about Jay's healing and how it all worked. I'm guessing, and Jay agrees, that Zeke figured out something was going on with you and me, Sam."

"How….why?" asked Sam.

"Cause Dad and Zeke spent over a week together" he looked at his brother "Now tell me, Sammy. When has Dad ever done that? He barely spent a week with us. Why would he spend ten days with someone he doesn't know?"

Sam had no answer.

"Because they were _planning_ something. They were planning this…only…."

"Only _what_, Dean?"

"Only, I think Dad…double-crossed him"

"Bullshit!"

"No, Sammy. I don't mean that in a bad way…although it really does suck out loud that he did that. But he did it for us. It doesn't excuse it because he fucked two other people by doing so"

"I don't understand, Dean. You think you could, I don't know…SPEAK ENGLISH!"

"Fuck me, Sam. Settle down, alright!"

"He's got a point, Dean. Just tell us what the hell it is you think John did. 'Cause I _know_ your father and I can't see him doing that to _anyone_" said Gus.

Dean sighed, he hadn't believed it either, had thought he'd misinterpreted what his Dad had written but …he _knew_ how his father worked and there was no denying it. "From what I can tell, when Dad found out about Jay's ability…he thought it might help us. He gave Zeke the co-ordinates for this place, probably told him that we'd be able to help if the shit really hit the fan. We know that Zeke knew the 'new hunters' were being killed off as well, that there was just the three of us and Jay left."

"You sure?" asked Sam.

Dean nodded "We found names…in code…and we're in there. Everyone else on the list is dead. We checked" he paused "I think Zeke was on his way here but when Jay turned up it screwed with everything. Zeke panicked. He already had the co-ordinates in his journal…but this is where it all gets weird."

"_This_ is where it gets weird" muttered Sam.

Dean ignored him "I think Zeke called Dad, told him Jay was here. Dad told Zeke about the pact, sent it to him" he paused, he'd hated saying it the first time, now he was saying it again "He'd fucked with it. I double and triple checked it"

"Fucked with it how, dude?"

"I think Dad saw the way Zeke was with Jay, realised he'd do anything to save her. So he made a deal with him"

"Dad doesn't _make _deals!"

"Yeah?" he shook his head at his brother "Sam, Zeke's _not _like me…well he is, he can track 'em too…but he's like you too, Sammy. He has death visions as well. He told Dad one of us was gonna die, the date and everything, that's how Zeke knew to send Jay here. I'm guessing Dad told him that if Jay helped us, he'd help him….but he fucked him over instead. The pact was supposed to make sure that if anything happened to Zeke, Jay would be fine."

"But?"

"But…for some reason, Dad changed it. He made _sure_ Zeke was sent to Hell"

"So when Zeke lost…"

Dean shook his head "No. There _was _no fight. The minute Zeke made the pact, he went. _That's_ why Jay believes he's alive…because he _is_"

"Your father wouldn't _do_ that, Dean"

"He did, Gus" Dean took the paper from Jay's journal that their father had sent to Zeke and got the book with the correct pact in it "Look. See the difference? Dad doesn't _make_ mistakes"

Gus studied both for a long time before looking up at Dean "That's not a mistake"

"I know" said Dean "What I don't understand is _why?"_

Sam looked at Dean "And you used this same pact?"

"I used the correct one. Not the one Dad sent to Zeke" he didn't tell Sam about the whisperings, he still couldn't remember them and he wasn't sure he wanted to either.

"But why did _you_ use that one, Dean? Like Jay said, you could have used any other one"

"I don't know for sure" he laughed "Jay said it's Karma kicking Dad's ass by using me. Dad fucked Zeke over and now…" he shrugged "but that doesn't matter Sammy because I'm not gonna lose today. You and I are gonna be fine" he grinned at his younger brother "You know I always got your back, dude and I ain't going nowhere'

"You're sure about this, Dean?" asked Sam, pointing to the pact. Dean nodded.

Sam sighed "So how much does Jay hate us?"

Dean laughed "She doesn't hate me, Sammy" he grinned "She just hates you"

------------

Jay sat on the porch steps reading both Zeke's and John's journals. She looked up occasionally when she heard Dean and Sam laughing. They were practicing in a far field but it was only half-arsed practicing. They were just mucking around, being kids, brothers, enjoying themselves before tonight. She knew Dean hadn't told Sam the truth about the pact. How it was Sam's soul he'd traded, not his own. And she'd promised Dean she wouldn't tell Sam either. She always kept a promise.

She went back to reading. She had an idea of what she was looking for. When Dean had told her that his father had sent Zeke to Hell, she hadn't believed it but after reading both of the journals, again and again she'd had no choice _but_ to believe. She knew Dean had been surprised when she hadn't freaked out, hadn't screamed or yelled at him, had just nodded. He'd apologised to her and she'd told him it hadn't been his doing, that he had nothing to apologise for and she'd meant it. It had been his _father_ that had done it. Not him. But there was something else, you see Dean didn't know Zeke like she did. Zeke would have seen the difference in the pact, would have understood what it meant but he'd gone along with it anyway. _That_ was what bothered her most.

And Zeke _wanted_ her here. Why? To help Dean? Maybe. Or to find answers. This was so fucking confusing. She sighed. Alright. Point form. She picked up her pen

1. Dean and Sam were the last two of the new hunters and she could self-heal.

2. Zeke and Dean made a pact to save siblings, backfires.

3. I'm sent here _by _Zeke, give transfusion to Dean…he now self heals.

4. John screwed Zeke over, Zeke now in Hell

5. Zeke _agreed_ to _go_ to Hell?

6. If Dean loses, he dies and they get Sam's soul as well.

She tapped the pen against her teeth and picked up John's journal. She flicked through the pages before finally finding what she knew she would. She sighed. If Zeke and John were here right now, she'd beat the shit out of both of them.

She heard Gus come out and yell for Dean and Sam. They looked up from their wrestling on the ground, punched each other a couple of times and jogged over.

Dean grinned at Gus "Yo!"

Gus smiled "Yo, yourself. Transfusion time. Jay here's gonna juice you up"

Jay turned to Gus "I'm gonna what?"

Dean grinned again "You heard the man. Juice me up, baby!"

She shook her head "Lovely"

Dean jogged up the stairs and turned back when she didn't follow "Come on, _Bessie!"_

Jay tried not to laugh "If you just called me a cow, Dean Winchester, I will _kick _your arse"

He laughed at her "That's damn fine ass, thank you very much" and walked happily into the house. Jay sighed, grabbed the journals and followed him inside.

-----------

Jay lay on the bed this time, Dean was sitting in the chair. He'd tried to make conversation with her but she'd just shaken her head and continued to read.

"Hey, you _are_ allowed to have fun you know" said Dean.

"Yeah, I'm having a ball" Jay said distractedly as she kept reading.

"I'll let you stab me when we're done, how's that?"

She looked up from the journal and into his grinning face "You promise?" he nodded and she smiled "Ta" then went back to reading.

"Aaah,…"

"What?"

"This soul trade thing…." he whispered.

"Dean, I'm trying to figure it out. Just don't lose okay"

"Aww, you care" she gave him the finger "You do. I know it. I'm irresistible"

"You're a pain in my arse is what you are" she looked at him "And I know what I just said and let it go"

"Come on! Have some fun! This could be my last day on earth…." he raised an eyebrow and grinned at her.

"I'm not gonna bang you, Dean"

"Really?"

She laughed "Really"

"Wow. That's …never happened before"

She laughed at the look of confusion on his face.

"Seriously?"

She nodded "Seriously"

He grinned "You'll change your mind. Now tell me what you figured out. No bullshit" she went to open her mouth and he put up a hand "No bullshit. You've found something else, now tell me. It's my _brother_ remember?"

She sighed, she had to tread carefully around this if it was going to work. Zeke _had_ known what John had done and she was starting to think that Zeke had volunteered to go as long as she was kept safe. John had sent Zeke the amended pact, on the proviso that Jay helped Dean. John must have known that Dean would do whatever it took to save Sam, she also believed that John knew Dean would use the same pact as Zeke or that maybe Zeke had seen it in that vision he'd had and told John, either way she'd been sent to help him. But she'd found something in one of Gus' books about using those pacts and what happened if you put proviso's on them. And that plus what she'd found in John's journal…

"Alright, Jay. It's not good, I can see that. Just tell me"

"Shit. Okay…umm…alright. Zeke's alive, there's no doubt, we both know that" Dean nodded "And we know _where_ he is right?" Dean nodded again "But _when_ is he, Dean?" Dean stared at her "Yeah, bloody good question, I know"

Dean reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. She opened it and read it…and re-read it and re-read it before handing it back.

"Sam doesn't know?" he shook his head "So, this is like a 'take two' on everything"

"I'm guessing" he laughed "No, no guessing. Yeah it is. And that photo of us against your car, well before you arrived, it was _my_ car we were leaning against" she saw his face fall at the mention of his car.

"Black Chevy?" he nodded "Saw it by the side of the road, tires slashed but otherwise alright" his face lifted a little. "Beautiful car" he grinned "That's better. So how'd you get a second chance?"

"No idea"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really" he looked at her "What? What?"

"I'm not sure but….I don't think I made it here the first time. I think that maybe…maybe _both_ you and Sam died"

Dean thought on it, died was right. Sammy had been killed and he was going to shoot himself. "So, we were dead, Zeke was in Hell and you were the last one left" he looked at her "You'd have been easy to kill, they knew how and you'd have had no help" she nodded "So…"

"So I'm thinking that Zeke isn't in Hell in the _present_, I think he's in Hell in the _future_ and he's messing with stuff. Don't ask me how he's doing it…"

"Jay, look, I know you love him and I hate to be the one to say this but …do you have _any_ idea what they'd be doing to him? He wouldn't be able to do _anything_. They'd make sure of it"

Her eyes darkened "Yeah, I guess but he's not supposed to be there… I mean be there _then_. Surely that means something? If they're messing around with time and trying to impose their will on it, surely there has to be some repercussions. What if…if…..if…"

He smiled at her "How many straws would you like with that stutter?"

She turned on him "It's easy for you to make jokes! _Y__our_ brother is _here! _ Where the fuck is mine??"

"I'm just saying…" he mumbled.

"What? That I give up? Would you give up on Sam? Would you?" he shook his head "Then don't take the piss out of me!"

"Take the _what_?" he tried not to smile.

"Take the piss! Make jokes at my expense….stop laughing!"

"Oh that's an _awesome_ expression. I'm using it" he laughed.

"You're an idiot"

"Jay, listen" he tried to stifle his laughter "Listen, I'm sorry. When I finish killing these assholes this afternoon, me and Sammy will help you get to Zeke. I promise" he grinned "And I'll try not to take the piss"

"You don't understand, do you? They get one of you either way" she looked at him "Yeah, that stopped you didn't it?"

"No, you're wrong. When I win, they leave us alone. That's what Gus said. They go back and it's over for now"

"Jesus, Dean! Do you think they'd let it be that simple? If you lose, you die and they get Sam. If you win, then they get _YOU _and then go after Sam_"_

He shook his head "No"

"Yes. If you put a caveat on the pact then that's a _deal_ with them, you made a deal with the devil. They tricked you into trading Sam's soul instead of yours because they _knew_ they already _had _you. The minute you wrote the proviso they _had_ you, that's why that wanted Sam's soul"

"No..."

"Yes, Dean" she said softly 'But I think Zeke knew that and I think he knew you'd do it too" She took the photo from John's journal and looked at it "Notice anything different?" and she handed it to him.

He studied it for a long time before looking up at her "How is that possible?" she raised an eyebrow, he smiled "Don't take the piss"

He looked back at the photo, it was still him, Sam and Gus leaning against her car but now Gus had a bandage around his head and they were all wearing pissed-off expressions. There was also the burnt out shell of an old Camaro just visible between a strand of trees in the background.

_**To be continued….**_


	14. Reaching Out

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Story is mine)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Fourteen.**

Gus had come in and removed the needles from both Dean and Jay's arms and she'd rolled over and gone to sleep but not before Dean had insisted she drink some juice. She'd agreed, as long as there was alcohol mixed in with it. He'd laughed, fixed it for her and then left her to rest.

Gus had wanted to test Dean's healing but he'd refused, saying he'd promised Jay she could stab him before anyone else had a go. He'd grinned at them and walked out of the cabin, saying he wanted to be left alone for a bit.

He made his way carefully to the burnt out car, making sure Sam and Gus didn't see where he was going. It was Zeke's car and it was here for a reason. How it had _got_ here was a freakin' mystery…as was this whole damn thing. The more they learned the more confusing it got. And Jay knew something too…something she wasn't telling him. He shook his head, focus on the car. He inspected it carefully…shit, what a waste of a beautiful car. A '69 Camaro. Whoever had done this would surely go to Hell…he laughed softly, he guessed that's _exactly_ where they were. Assholes.

He carefully popped the trunk and searched it. He found a hidden compartment in the side panel, a small array of powerful weapons inside. He took out a Sig-Saur 9mm, smiled, checked the breach, jacked a bullet into the chamber and put it at the small of his back. He found Zeke's sword as well, he took that too, he'd give it Jay when she woke.

He brushed the soot from his hands and went to the glove-box. Nothing. He was sure the cops would have cleaned out what they could. He checked all the panels and didn't find anything. He lifted the burnt remains of the carpets and found a photo wedged in a crack of the floor. He looked at it and smiled. It was singed around the edges but intact. He put it in his pocket. He stood and looked at the car…guns, sword, photo….no, there was more. He just had to find it.

------------

_His eyes fluttered open. He tried not to groan, he couldn't let them know what he was doing. If they even got an **inkling** as to what was at play here…it would have all been for nothing. And he was running out of time…well not him. Dean. And therefore Jay and Sam. He'd put his faith in three people he didn't know…his faith and his sister. If **anything** happened to her…oh there would be **hell** to pay. He laughed at that. Hell. Fucking hell. He laughed again. Or should that be ..fucking **Hell.** He laughed all the more. Was it all going to Hell in a hand basket? He snorted, tears rolling down his blood-covered cheeks._

_The guard looked over at the man hanging from the wall. Laughing. The guard smiled to himself, maybe the man was finally starting to break; his mind starting to unravel. Once the insanity set in, and it was only a matter of time, then things would **really** get interesting._

_Zeke tried to settle himself but the more he tried the more he laughed. He knew he wasn't losing it, far from it but once he 'got the giggles' as Jay referred to it, he'd always found it difficult to stop. God he missed her. God. God wasn't in this place. He was sure She, yes She; Jay always said if you believed in God… well it had to be a woman. If God were a man, she'd said, there'd be beer bottles strewn all over the world, dirty underwear hanging from the stars and instead of there being a sun, it'd be a pair of tits and the moon would be an arse crack, 'mooning' all that looked at it. He bellowed his laughter. She had such a **charming** way of putting things. He laughed again, he was **sure** she was driving Dean, Sam and Gus crazy. Pissing them off no end. He'd warned John about her and John had just laughed and said it would be payback for what his sons did to him._

_He noticed the guard go into the small room opposite him, he waited til the door shut and closed his eyes. He guessed he had maybe three minutes. He concentrated hard, one part of his mind ticking off the time as the other part, the part no-one but John knew about, did what it was designed to do. He concentrated on the cabin….it slowly came into focus….he looked around, smiled when he saw his sister asleep, but he wasn't looking for her this time…he searched….there he was. Fucking arseholes! His car! But there was Dean…he concentrated, he saw Dean cock his head and turn around…'No, back to the car, Dean'. Dean turned back to the car and studied it before slowly lying down and pushing himself underneath it. Zeke smiled and broke contact. _

------------

Dean stood staring at the car. It was here. Whatever it was they needed, it was here. Just where the _fuck_ was it?

'_Dean'_

He cocked his head and turned round, scanning the area around him. No one. Odd. He turned back to the car, smiled, lay down on his back and pushed himself underneath it.

------------

He was leaning back against the car when Jay found him. She sat down next to him and passed him a beer. He nodded and drank almost half of it. She didn't say anything, she could tell by the look on his face that he'd found what he was looking for. He reached into his pocket and passed her a photo. She took it and smiled. It was her and Zeke as kids. She must have been about four, Zeke seven. He had his arm protectively around her shoulders, both of them in the dull-grey uniforms the Nuns had insisted they wore at all times and they were grinning at each other.

"Your shoes are on the wrong feet"

She laughed "Yeah, always had trouble with that" he looked at her feet "Started to get it right when I was about sixteen" he turned his face to hers and she cracked up.

He smiled "Smart ass"

"Well?"

He sighed and drank again before passing her a small notebook "It's all in there"

"All of it?"

"Pretty much. I'm sure he and Dad left some of it out" he laughed "I guarantee they did, but yeah"

She went to open it and he put his hand over hers. She looked at him "What?"

"Don't be pissed at him"

Her stomach flipped "Why do I not like the sound of that?"

"Jay, you have to understand…" he sighed "I'm a big brother so I can see where he's coming from. He loves you like…like…"

"Like you love Sam"

He nodded "He didn't do any of this to be a hero…or to ..shit, I don't know. But he did it to protect you. To _save_ you. He couldn't tell you because he _knew_ you'd never let him do it. But don't be pissed at him. Promise me."

She eventually nodded. He took his hand off hers and let her read.

She closed the notebook slowly. He watched her, she hung her head and stared at the book, he couldn't see her face, he didn't need to, he saw all he needed when the first tear fell onto the cover. He put his arm across her shoulders and held her as she cried. He didn't say anything to her. There was nothing he _could_ say to make it better. He understood her pain and he knew the last thing she needed was hollow words. He kissed the top of her head as her tears stained his shirt. He lifted her face and leaned down, brushing his lips across hers.

-----------

_The torture had been especially harsh this time. Something was wrong. Something had happened that had pissed them off and they'd used him to vent their rage. The worst part was that it was done in total silence. They'd never said a thing, the more pain they inflicted, the more fiercely their red-eyes seemed to glow.. He had pretended to pass out and the torture had continued for another ten minutes before they tired of his lack of response. He waited til the last of them left the room before reaching out for his sister. He needed to make sure she was alright and he needed to make sure they'd found the notebook._

_He concentrated on the cabin…found it….he saw Gus sharpening swords in the lounge and Sam reading his journal. Jay wasn't there. She must be up at the car. He concentrated on the car….found it. Aaah geez, **no** brother wants to see his sister doing **that**. He knew she wasn't a virgin but COME ON! Okay, okay…backtothecabin, backtothecabin, backtothecabin, fortheloveofgod! Backtothecabin!_

_Alright…hopefully not permanently scared by **that**….he looked at the two men on the lounge….time to have a chat with Sam. He went deep, he didn't have a lot of time and this part of his gift was especially exhausting. He focussed on Sam…._

-----------

Sam was sitting on the lounge, Jay's journal on his lap, a beer in hand, trying to read the words in front of him as he tried not to think of the ticking hands of the clock speeding them towards dusk. Dean. He couldn't lose his brother. He was all he had left in the world, he couldn't think of not seeing that smart ass grin every day, not hearing his disgruntled mumblings when Sam insisted he …

"_Sam…"_

He looked up from the journal "Yeah, Gus?"

Gus looked up from the sword he'd been sharpening for well over an hour. The repetition of it, calming him "Huh?"

"What did you say?" asked Sam.

"Nothing, son. I didn't say anything" and he went back to his task.

Sam shook his head, looked back at the journal and tried to concentrate on the words in front of him.

"_Sam…."_

Sam looked up again "_What_ Gus?"

Gus looked at Sam again "What_, what?"_

"You called my name"

Gus shook his head "No, I didn't" he looked at Sam "You alright….I mean…."

"You didn't say my name?"

Gus shook his head again "No, son. I didn't"

"Huh" said Sam. He took a long swig of beer and turned his attention to the journal.

"_Sam, you're tired. Time for a short nap"_

Sam closed the journal "I'm tired, Gus. I'm just gonna take a short nap" he got up and went to the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He lay down on his bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

----------

Sam dreamed. It was a strange dream. He was sitting in a hard wooden chair, there was nothing around him, nothing but grey. A smoky haze seemed to hang over everything. He tried to peer into it but could see nothing, he looked behind him, more nothingness. It was like a void.

"It is a void, Sam"

He turned back "Zeke?"

Zeke smiled "Hi, Sam"

Sam shook his head "This is some weird-ass dream"

Zeke laughed softly "It's not really a dream Sam…although…it kinda is. This is as real as real gets. You and I are here but we're also…not"

"Jesus Christ, even in my dreams you speak in code"

Zeke laughed loudly "I see you've been reading my journal. Sorry about that" he shrugged "but you know how it works" Sam nodded "Alright, Sam. You need to listen. I don't have a lot of time and we need to discuss a few things"

"Shouldn't you be speaking with Jay?"

"Jay's…busy" he blinked rapidly.

"You alright, dude? I mean apart from being in Hell and all"

Zeke smiled "I've been better. Now listen. Dean fights this afternoon, dusk if I remember correctly. You need to be there with him. He won't want you to go and neither will Gus but you make sure you're there, this is especially important"

"Why? And …umm…after what my Dad did…aren't you….you know, pissed at us?"

Zeke smiled "Your Dad and I are sweet, Sam. He didn't betray me. Jay knows that now."

"But…the pact…"

"The pact was the correct one. Jay and Dean just hadn't figured everything out. My codes are a little …confusing"

"A little?" laughed Sam.

Zeke laughed "Okay, a lot. But all that's beside the point right now. You need to be there when Dean fights, you're NOT allowed to interfere. He has to fight them alone. Jay's given him enough blood to make sure he heals as fast as she does so that's good"

"Why is it so important that I'm there? I mean I was going no matter what anyone said …"

"Sam, you're going to have to do something that you won't want to. But you MUST do it"

"What?"

"Dean hasn't explained everything to you and I don't have a lot of time left. So listen carefully and no more questions. Dean was tricked into invoking some mojo that meant that _his _soul wasn't traded, _yours _was. He didn't realise, so don't be pissed at him. He has to win to _save_ your soul but when he wins, he'll be bought here. With me. And before you say it, this had nothing to do with Jay or with me…this was_ all_ demon. You will NOT be able to get him back. There is only one way to make sure it doesn't go that way…"

"Tell me, whatever it is, I'll do it"

Zeke smiled "Your Dad said you two had a strong bond" he paused "you'll need it. Now listen…." he whispered quietly to Sam.

Sam looked up at him "No" he shook his head.

"You have no choice, Sam. It's the _only_ way. I know you don't know me, so you have no reason to trust me. I get that. But you ask Jay to read the notebook it explains….well it explains some"

"There's no other way?"

"No, Sam"

Sam sighed "You know, your sister is a pain in the ass"

Zeke laughed "Yeah, I know. But she grows on you" he looked at Sam seriously "You do this Sam, you hear me? You do this" he paused "And tell Jay I know she didn't mean what she said…and tell her I love her" he reached a hand out to Sam….

----------

Sam's eyes snapped open. What the _fuck _was that? That was the strangest dream he'd _ever_ had…oh, well maybe not the strangest but damn did it feel real. He sat up and felt something slip from his fingers, he reached down and picked it up. What the _hell?_

_**To be continued….**_


	15. Revelations

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the story)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Fifteen.**

Jay was leaning back against Dean. She closed her eyes, Jesus…what had she been thinking? She sighed inwardly, she _hadn't_ been thinking, that was the thing; she'd been hurting and she'd just wanted to forget. Forget what she'd read and forget what she'd lost. She sighed again and turned to Dean, he was smiling at her. Oh, great. She stood up and started picking up her clothes.

Dean shook his head, shit, what had he been thinking? He grinned, well he kinda knew, but…she'd been hurting and he knew that feeling, that feeling of loss, he'd just wanted her to forget for a while…and so had he. He smiled at the memory and then she'd pushed herself out of his arms and started picking up her clothes.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

She turned to him "Look, that…we shouldn't have. I wasn't thinking straight and …and…" she was scanning the ground "where the hell is my other boot?" she looked around some more….there it was, on top of the car, how the _hell_ had it got up there…oh, yeah. She tried not to smile as she grabbed it.

"I saw that" he grinned.

"Shut up" she slipped her t-shirt over her head and looked at him "Are you gonna get dressed or spend the rest of the day naked?" he grinned at her "Fortheloveofgod…" she muttered with a smile. She put her jeans on "Dean…"

He grinned "Okay, okay…" he got up, stretched and started to dress. "Jay…"

"Don't okay? I don't do the whole…post-sex thing very well. Sooo…you were great, you rocked my world, now let's just forget about it"

He laughed "I wasn't gonna say that but…" he grinned "of course and backatchya"

"Oh God…."

He grinned at her "Yeah, you said that _a lot_" he laughed "I saw that"

"I'm _not_ smiling. Now what were you gonna say?" she bent to put her boots on "Stop looking at my arse"

He looked up from her ass "I…" he laughed and put his boots on "Okay" he bent and picked up the notebook as she turned around "We need to talk about this"

She shook her head "No. We don't"

"Yes. We do."

"No. I _never_ want to see that book again"

"Jay…"

She shook her head "No" turned and walked away.

"JAY!"

"NO!" she took off at a jog.

---------

Dean walked back into the cabin and saw Sam and Gus sitting at the table steadily throwing back tequila. Sam turned when he heard the door open.

"Dude!" he grinned "Where've ya been?"

"Is Jay here?"

"Nope, haven't seen her…" he frowned "But I gotta talk to her. _Man_, do I have to talk to her"

Dean sat at the table, grabbed the tequila bottle and drank.

Sam grinned "Chug-a-lug, dude"

Dean smiled "You pissed, Sammy?"

He grinned "Uh huh" he threw back another shot then noticed the notebook in Dean's hand "Hey! I gotta read that" and he reached for it.

Dean pulled it out of his reach "No"

"No, dude. Seriously. I gotta read that. Zeke told me to" he laughed "He's a _funny _bastard…and _big_ too. I mean…shit! You could build a whole damn _city_ on his shoulders! And, and, and…you know he even _speaks_ in code!" he giggled.

Dean looked at Gus and raised an eyebrow "What's he been smoking?"

Gus laughed "I don't know, Dean. He went and had a sleep…"

Sam shook his head "Noooo, a _nap_. Zeke told me to go and have a nap and then he came and spoke to me in a void that wasn't a void…hang on, no, it _was_ a void but we were there but not and…" he frowned "it was _real_" he burped loudly. "'S'cuse me" he grinned.

Dean laughed, reached over and took the tequila from Sam's hand 'No more, Sammy. Now what the _hell_ are you talking about?"

Sam stared at the tequila and sighed "Okay. Zeke came and spoke to_ me_ 'cause he said Jay was busy" he noticed Dean smile "Oh, dude…you _didn't_"

"Shut up. Now tell me what Zeke said"

"He said I had to read that" he pointed to the notebook "He also said…" he shook his head.

"What Sammy?"

"He said we can't…"

They looked up when the screen door opened and Jay walked in. She went straight to the bathroom, ignoring them. Sam got up, went to the bathroom door and knocked on it.

"Jay, its Sam. I gotta talk to you"

"I'm not in the mood" she said through the door.

"Jay, I'm serious. I _have _to talk to you. It's about Zeke" he stepped back when the door opened. He frowned "You've been crying". He turned to Dean "Damn, dude" he grinned at his brother "Are you _that_ bad a lay?"

Jay knocked Sam on his arse and turned to Dean "You _told_ them?!"

"Hey! You _hit _me!" said Sam from the ground.

"I _didn't_ tell them…they …guessed" said Dean haltingly.

Sam grinned "He was smiling"

"Oh for fucks sake" she went to her bag and started throwing her stuff in. "You are _unbelievable"_

Dean stood "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere…somewhere as far away from _here_ as possible"

"No. You stay here and we talk about this" he held the notebook up "Zeke left it for a reason, you've read it…"

She laughed "Yeah, I read it" she looked at him "Why would I want to read it again?"

"_I _need to read it" said Sam as he got up from the floor "Zeke said I had to"

Jay stopped her packing and turned to him "_What_ did you say?"

"You heard me. Zeke said I have to read that book" said Sam.

"Are you _trying_ to piss me off?"

"Noooo, but he said…"

"HE _DIDN"T_ SAY! HE'S GONE! YOU HEAR ME? GONE! THE PRICK SENT HIMSELF TO HELL AND HE'S _NOT_ COMING BACK!" her voice hitched on the last word.

"Jay…"

"Don't Dean! I know what I read! You do too! My brother is gonna spend eternity in Hell because of me! _ME! _YOU try living with that!"

"I AM LIVING WITH THAT!" he yelled. He shook his head and tried to calm down "Where do you think _our_ Dad is? He may not be _when_ Zeke is but he's _where_ Zeke is! _My_ dad made a deal with that yellow-eyed bastard to save me! So don't you start! I know _exactly_ how you feel, okay!" they stared at each other.

"I still need to read that book" said Sam. Jay and Dean turned and glared at him "I do!"

Gus stood up "Okay, everyone needs to just calm down…"

"Shut the fuck up, Gus!" the three of them said in unison.

"I will NOT shut the fuck up!" He went and grabbed Jay, forcing her to sit at the table "Dean! Sam! Sit the fuck down or I will put my wooden leg up your asses!" he stared at them "I mean it!"

Dean and Sam mumbled all the way over to the table and sat down, Sam eyeing off the notebook in Dean's hand. Gus cleared the table of all the alcohol and sat down.

"Now talk" said Gus "I _need_ to know what's going on"

Dean looked at Jay and she shook her head. He sighed "Okay. Zeke's car is here, well what's left of it. I found this" he held up the notebook "hidden in the chassis. It explains what's going on, not all of it I'm sure…but most of it" he looked at Sam "Dad wrote in it too"

"What's it say, dude?"

"It says that Dad and Zeke planned this. Not the whole demon thing, they knew that was happening so they put things in motion to make sure the three of us would be alright. Dad didn't screw Zeke, he _helped_ him. Zeke wanted to go…well not _wanted _but…had to"

"He _didn't_ have to"

"Yeah, Jay. He did" he looked at Sam "Sammy, the first time we did this, you….died. Jay wasn't here …so somehow…Zeke managed to set things right again, made sure Jay was here this time round."

"To give you the blood transfusion…for the healing" he said.

"Yeah and to make sure I was strong enough to protect you this time round. Zeke promised Dad that he'd make sure we were okay as long as we made sure Jay was okay. It didn't work the first time…so…look, I don't understand how he did it, but he did. The pact, the one Dad sent him, he wasn't supposed to use it until they came after us" he looked at Jay "but when Jay turned up unannounced…"

"I fucked him over"

"No" said Dean softly "you didn't fuck him over. He was going anyway, he just went earlier than he expected" he turned back to Sam "Zeke figured she'd come when he went missing, so we were supposed to make sure she got on a plane and went home. The deal was for Zeke to spend…to _go_ to Hell and Jay would be left alone, but it didn't work out that way. Only…."

"Only what?" asked Sam.

"Only I think Zeke knew they wouldn't hold to it so that made him more determined to go. He can _do_ shit, Sammy. I mean seriously scary shit with his mind and I'm not talking about bending spoons and making people think they're chickens"

"I _know_, dude. He came to see me" he looked at Jay "I know you're not gonna believe this, but it's true. He _made_ me take a nap so he could speak to me. He said I had to read that notebook to understand. He said you and Dean knew Dad hadn't screwed him over and he said…" he sighed "he said to tell you he knows you didn't mean what you said and that he loves you"

"What else did he say?" she asked softly.

"That was pretty much it" he wasn't going to tell them what Zeke told him he had to do "He…you know he…shit. I'm sorry Jay, you can't get to him" she nodded "But you're gonna keep trying"

She nodded again "How can I not?"

He reached into his pocket "Here. I'm guessing this is for you" he held out his hand and she just stared at it.

"How did you get this?" she reached out and took it.

"Zeke gave it to me"

She stood up quickly and went to Gus' bookcase and started scanning the titles.

Dean looked at Sam "What was it, dude?"

"A necklace…but a weird-ass looking necklace. What else was in the notebook?"

"All about the healing…"

"Zeke said you heal as quickly as she does now"

Dean nodded "Yeah, he and Dad set that up. Zeke told him I'd use the pact. Zeke didn't know _why_ and that worried him, but he told Dad I would need the transfusion, the healing would be a bonus, would help with the fight. He also knew I'd trade my soul but Zeke wrote that he had that all under control, didn't say how, but that he'd sort it out. Dad said we had to trust Zeke, that he knew what he was doing" he looked over at Jay, she was still searching for a book. He leaned in and whispered "I took out a page before she read it, she's up to something, it doesn't say what, he just warns her not to do it"

"So why the _hell_ did you take it out?" whispered Sam.

"I had to! It explained what they were doing to him…or gonna do to him, shit, you know what I mean. I couldn't let her read that!"

"Why would he do that? He'd _know_ it would upset her" said Sam incredulously.

"Because he said they'd do it to _her_ if she did what she was planning. I think he was hoping to scare her. So you two have to stop her, whatever it is she's planning, you _have_ to stop her. She's bound to do it when I'm fighting, so you _stay_ here and you _stop_ her"

Sam sat back in his chair…he couldn't be in two places at once. Oh, this was not good, not good at all.

Gus sat and listened, he closed his eyes, he had to try and tell them…tell them without _him _finding out. He continued his struggle.

-----------

_Lothar paced. What the heaven was going on? They'd captured the one called Zeke, killed the one called Sam, the brother had shot himself and they were going after the woman. All of it was going to plan and then…then they'd been told it had all been **'reset'**. They had to go back and do it again. The man downstairs was **not** happy. _

_How in Satan's name had it been done? Even his 'sleeper' didn't understand it. But **that **wasn't working out quite as well as he'd hoped either. The 'sleeper' had said he'd been having some trouble, the old man was **smart**, he had to be careful in case he figured out he was there. He'd only been able to make small journeys into his mind. He said he didn't think the two hunters knew he was there, but they were smart as well, so he'd had to be on his guard. He'd been subtly steering them in the right direction, had made sure the one called Dean had used the right pact but had not understood how he'd survived that night he'd set the challenge. The blood loss alone should have killed him. He had no update on the whereabouts of the woman either… but as far as he knew the two men had never heard of her._

_Lothar punched the wall, he couldn't risk going to the property, if his superiors found out what he'd done, how he'd broken the rules… He shook his head, he **had** to figure out who had reset this. It was his only chance at saving his own neck._

_**To be continued….**_


	16. Secrets and Lies

_(Note: As fanfic was doing some crazy shit the last couple of days, I managed to bang out a couple of chapters. Now we **are** heading towards the finale, if you can bear with me, the final chapter will be Chapter 20. Thanks for sticking with it!)_

_(Disclaimer: Don't own anything but this story)_

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Sixteen.**

Dean sat on the porch steps drinking beer with Sam. There was no need for him to get in any more practice, he was as ready as he was ever going to be. Now was his time with Sam. Sammy. He sipped at his beer and smiled at his younger brother who was rambling on about something or other. It didn't matter what he was saying, just hearing his voice was all he needed. He'd never tell Sam, but he'd been the one that had kept him sane, kept his demons at bay. He _knew_ if it hadn't been for his brother, he'd be dead. Either by doing something reckless that would've killed him … or by his own hand. He owed Sam his life, _that's_ why he'd done what he had. He would die for his baby brother, do anything within his power to keep Sam alive…._anything. _He sipped his beer, trying not to think about what he'd _really_ done and concentrated on the sound of his brother's voice instead.

Sam sat on the porch steps drinking beer with Dean, rambling on about something or other. He didn't know what he was saying, they were just words. He just needed to be near his brother, sharing the closeness, the bond that would _always_ be there. He didn't need to look at his watch to know that dusk was only three hours away. Every time he thought about it, he felt sick. Sick about what lay ahead for Dean and sick about what he was going to have to do. He'd never tell Dean, but he'd been the one that had kept him sane, sane throughout all the nightmares, sane every time he'd felt the hopelessness overwhelm him. He _knew_ if it hadn't been for his brother he'd be dead. By either forcing himself into a confrontation with that yellow-eyed bastard or…by his own hand. He owed Dean his life and the only way to save him….he sighed and tried not to think about it. Instead he rambled, trying to keep his brothers mind off what lay ahead…his brothers mind and his own.

Jay sat on the trunk of her car, reading. She sighed, all she damn well _did_ was read. She rubbed a hand down her face and looked at her watch. Three hours til dusk. She pulled the necklace from underneath her t-shirt and looked at it. Zeke. It was_ his_ necklace, but it was so much more than that. Why the hell couldn't he just come out and _say_ what he meant? Say what he wanted her to do? But nooooo, not _her_ brother. She looked at the necklace again, it was a woman wearing a ceremonial headdress killing a frog headed man. The man was 'Heh' the Egyptian symbol for primeval darkness, the woman was 'Ishtar'. She shook her head. Bloody ironic bastard. 'Ishtar' was the Egyptian goddess of battle and healing. But it was what surrounded the symbols that had freaked her out some. A _Thaumaturgic Triangle_, it was hidden in the background, but it was there and you _didn't_ mess around with them. They were what opened the door to the other realm. What the _hell_ was Zeke trying to tell her?

Gus stood by the window watching the three of them. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep this thing at bay. He knew something was going on inside him, he had a fair idea of what it was too but he'd had to be careful, if they found out he knew about it, it was over for the lot of them. All his energy was being used to make sure they didn't know about Jay. Not for her sake…well, yeah, for her sake he guessed but more for Dean's. If those bastards found out he could self-heal, the boy would be seriously fucked. He sighed, he'd left enough damn clues for them to realise what was going on but not _one_ of them had figured it out. Still, to be fair, they _did_ have a lot of other shit on their minds at the moment. He cursed himself_, he'd_ been the one that made sure Dean had used the pact…well not _him_ exactly but…him. He should have realised …realised they would find him eventually. He'd let his guard down for _one_ minute and they'd got him. Well they weren't gonna get Dean and Sam, not if he had anything to do with it. He'd promised John he'd look after them and look after them he would, even if it killed him. And Jay, he was hoping she'd be the one to figure it out but she hadn't, so if she had to be collateral damage…then….well, then that was just the way it had to be.

--------------

"Beer?"

Jay looked up from her journal, Dean was holding out a cold one for her. "Ta. Where's Sam?"

"Said he just had to go and check on something" he leaned back against the car next to her "Still reading huh?"

She shrugged and sipped at her beer "You nervous?"

He shook his head "Nah. Just another day really…another fight against…"

She laughed "Yeah, yeah…keep livin' the dream, Dean"

He laughed softly "Do you know how to _not_ piss people off?"

She smiled "Not really, but I've never been one for popularity contests either so…" she shrugged.

He laughed again "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure"

"What did you used to do…you know …before…" he waved his hand "this"

She laughed "Before all this madness?" she shook her head "Doesn't matter. Can never go back to it."

"Jay…"

She shook her head "I'm gonna find him, Dean. There'll be a way and I'll find it. I don't care how long it takes. Like I said, it's not like I can go back to my other life anyway" she looked at him "You're lucky, you and Sam. You've got a purpose, a calling. You do _good _things…something that…" she shook her head "forget it" and sipped at her beer.

He smiled to himself, she'd caught herself again, not wanting to say too much "Where are you gonna go after this?"

She smiled "Wherever the wind blows me. Things tend to have a way of…working themselves out. I'll go where I'm supposed to"

He looked at her, oh yeah, she was up to something alright "Can I see your necklace, the one Zeke left you?" she pulled it out from underneath her t-shirt and he moved in front of her to look at it.

He studied it carefully, it seemed familiar to him, he frowned…something didn't feel right about this, he looked at her "Unusual. What do the symbols mean?"

"Not sure…he's had it since he was a kid. Never really asked him about it"

He smiled "You have to learn to lie better. Now tell me…that triangle…"

"It's just a _shape_, Dean. A necklace that he's had since he was little, that's _all_ it is"

"Uh huh" he looked at it carefully…there was something…wrong. He frowned "Where'd he get it?"

Jay shrugged "Not sure. He's always had it" she reached up and tried to take it from his fingers "Let go, Dean"

"No, there's…I _know_ this symbol" he held tight to the necklace, searching his memory.

Jay pulled on the necklace "Dean, let go of it"

"No" he looked at her "You're hiding something. What is it?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous. I'm not hiding anything"

"Jay…"

She reached up grabbed his shirt and pulled his lips to hers, kissing him hard, taking the necklace from his fingers as she did so and tucking it back under her t-shirt "Let it go, okay?" and she jumped off the car and went into the cabin.

He watched her go…oh, if she thought _that_ was gonna work, she had another thing coming.

------------

Sam sat on his bed, holding the dagger in his hand…the dagger Zeke had given him. How the hell was he gonna do this? He understood he had no choice, it was the only way to save Dean. He didn't know _how _it would but he had to trust Zeke…. and _that's _where the difficulty lay. He didn't know this man, didn't know him from _jack_, but their Dad had said to trust him. Trust a man he didn't know. A man that held the fate of him and Dean in his hands and who was now presiding in Hell while his pain in the ass sister was planning something stupid. He sighed….and what would Dean do once he'd done this? Would saving Dean tear them apart?

He sighed again. Zeke said he had to be with Dean during the fight to ensure the demons didn't get either of them and Dean wanted him here to make sure Jay didn't do whatever the hell it was she was planning. And she was planning something, there was _no_ doubt. She'd been pouring over Gus' books but making sure he and Dean didn't see what she was reading. She'd been scouring both journals as well, writing in her own code (he'd checked when she'd gone to the bathroom) and she kept touching the necklace she now wore around her neck.

He looked out the window and saw Dean heading into the house. He slipped the dagger into his boot and was changing his t-shirt when Dean came in and closed the door.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just ..yeah, I'm fine" said Sam.

"Dude, you know I'm gonna be alright. Those bastards don't stand a chance and even if I _do_ get a little hurt" he grinned "I'll heal up and they won't know what hit 'em"

Sam straightened, squared his shoulders and looked his brother in the eye "I'm coming with you, Dean"

Dean shook his head "No, Sammy"

"Don't argue with me, Dean. This is the biggest fight of our lives…_our _lives. It's not just _your_ fight…it's _mine_. You had _no_ right to change the challenge but what's done is done. I _won't _let you go out there alone" he shook his head "no way and no how. You always say you've got my back, Dean. We'll it works both ways, dude"

Dean shook his head again "You're not coming. I need you here…"

"Bullshit. Don't use Jay as an excuse to keep me away, it won't work. Sure, she's planning something, I get that, but whatever it is, Gus can handle it and there is NO way I'm letting you go face them alone. You may have to fight them by yourself but I WILL be there with you"

"No"

"Yes. You can't win this argument, Dean. So stop fucking trying"

"Sammy…"

Sam shook his head "No. Would you let me go battle alone? Would you?" he stared at his brother "Yeah, didn't think so. Well, I'm not letting you go alone either. End of discussion" he turned on his heel and walked out of the bedroom.

-------------

Jay was sitting on the couch going over her journal again. Men. They were all the same. Pain's in the goddamn arse. Her brother had taken it upon himself to spend eternity in Hell and then expected her to sit back and say 'thanks' and get on with her life. Fat bloody chance of that! She was just as stubborn as he was. And Sam…he'd been a pain in the arse from the minute she'd met him, still, he was pretty funny when he was pissed and she could see how much he loved Dean. She understood where he was coming from too, she was in the same damn boat and that boar was up shit creek with no freakin' paddle. And that brother of his…it was bad enough she'd slipped up and banged him, although it _had _made her feel better, she smiled to herself, quite a bit actually but that was _so _beside the point. He knew she was up to something and he'd drive her crazy trying to find out what it was. Still, she had his measure, she shook her head…typical. And Gus, she looked over at him, he was watching her, yeah, something wasn't right there either. She couldn't put her finger on it…but it was something.

She looked back as Sam plonked himself down on the couch next to her "I need your help"

She laughed softly "Again?"

He shook his head "You brother said you '_grow'_ on people…" he grinned "I'm still waiting for that to happen"

She laughed "Stop it with the compliments. Now what is it?"

"I need you to stop planning whatever it is you're planning": he put up his hand to stop her "Just hear me out. I'm going with Dean to the battle, he doesn't want me to 'cause he thinks you're planning on doing something, which you are. He won't concentrate properly and I _need _him to concentrate"

She laughed softly "I think you're building up something between your brother and I that just isn't there, Sam. Sure, we banged each other…but it was just physical. He annoys the crap out of me and I'm pretty sure I annoy the crap out of him"

Sam laughed "Yeah, I see that but…just _don't _okay?"

"Sam, I don't know what you're on about, I'm _not_ planning anything. I'm just trying to find my brother, that's all" she sighed "I know you and Dean think it's a fool's errand but I gotta try. So just let me, okay? I don't know what I'm looking for and I don't know if I'll actually find anything that will help him, but I'm pretty damn sure I'm not going to find anything within the next couple of hours. So just chill out"

"Yeah….uh huh…." He got up and walked outside.

-----------

She'd had her head back in the journal for about five minutes when Dean sat down next to her. She sighed inwardly, here we go again.

"You're up to something. I know it, Sammy knows it and Gus knows it too. Whatever it is, you _stop_ it. When I beat these assholes, I _promise _you, me and Sam will help you as much as we can"

She smiled at him "Dean, this isn't your problem. It's mine. I'll find Zeke and I _will_ get him back. And before you start…I'm not planning anything 'cause I don't know what the hell I'm looking for and I have _no _idea how to get my brother back from a Hell that's in the future. So just relax and go spend some time with Sam"

"I _know_ you're up to something, Jay…and that necklace has something to do with it" he smiled.

Jay laughed "You're thinking of that kiss aren't you?"

"No. And that was unfair"

She laughed "Too easy. Now go sit with Sam" she pushed him off the couch "Go" he got up and went to join Sam outside.

Jay turned to Gus "And what do you have to say about all this, Gus?"

Gus stared at her for a long time before a slow smile crept onto his lips "The journey of a thousand miles starts with…twelv_e _steps" his eyes bored into hers _"Twelve _steps_"_

She frowned and cocked her head at him…he smiled at her, got up and went outside to join Dean and Sam.

_**To be continued…..**_


	17. The Ticking of the Clock

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Story belongs to me)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Seventeen.**

_**Tick-tock.** It should have been quiet. It wasn't. It couldn't get any louder. **Tick-tock**. Wasn't the hand that marked down the seconds on the clock the **quiet** one? It should have been, but all they heard was the loud, booming toll of time racing forward.** Tick-tock**. It crashed into their minds, driving all other thoughts out of it. There was nothing but time allowed here. It staked its claim on any passing thought, destroying it before it could take hold. **Tick-tock**. No amount of willing it to slow down, willing it to stop would work. Time was the victor here….it always would be**. Tick-tock. Tick tock….**_

-----------

Jay watched Gus' retreating figure. What the hell had _that_ meant? That wasn't how the phrase went...'the journey of a thousand miles starts with _one_ step', not twelve. And the way he'd stared at her…no, something wasn't right at all. She closed the journal and looked at her watch…**_two hours and thirty-one minutes til dusk_**. She shivered involuntarily, got up and went to the window. Dean, Sam and Gus were leaning against her car, beers in hand, swords across their backs. She looked to her left, and there it was…the camera. _Fuck me_, she thought. She shook her head, picked it up and walked outside.

The three of them looked up as the cabin door opened, they saw the camera in Jay's hand, then looked at themselves.

"Fuck me…" said Dean.

Jay laughed "Yeah, imagine how I felt when I looked out the window and saw you three like that. Now cuddle up, smile for the camera and say _'cheese'_"

They laughed as she took the photo "Well, I guess that makes sure the photo…" she laughed "shit, I don't even know how to finish that sentence"

"Grab a beer, Jay and come and hang out" said Sam. She nodded, went back inside and came out with four more.

She sat herself up on the hood of her car "Dean" she tossed him the car keys "music, sunshine"

Dean caught the keys and grinned "I want to drive this baby when I get back"

She smiled "You get back in one piece, I'll even teach you how to do 'donuts' in her"

He scoffed "I _know_ how to do 'donuts', _Knievel_…" he grinned "When I get back, we'll go get the Impala and race back here"

She laughed "You'll be watching my arse the whole way" he grinned and she rolled her eyes "I meant the _car's _arse, Romeo"

He grinned again "Whatever you say" he put Zeppelin in the cd player and turned it up loud. "Now _that's_ good fightin' music. You reckon they'll let me battle to a soundtrack?"

"Hey, if you're lucky, Jay can pole dance while you're fighting, distract 'em while you get slash-happy" said Sam with a laugh.

"You're fucking hilarious, Sam" she grinned "And I haven't done that in a loooong time" the three men stared at her. She rolled her eyes "Dear lord….I was _joking, _stop thinking with your dicks"

Dean grinned.

"Don't say it" she said.

"You've been reading some of my books, Jay" said Gus. The change of subject was so dramatic, they _all _looked at him. Gus looked at his watch, **_two hours and twenty-five minutes til dusk._**

Jay took a sip of beer "Mmmhmm"

"Find anything interesting?" he asked.

"Interesting? Yeah. Anything that'll help me with Zeke? No." she turned to Sam "You saw him, Sam" she paused "Did he look…okay? I mean…"

Sam smiled "He looked fine, Jay. He sure is big though"

She laughed "Yeah, he said he needed to be…to stop people wanting to beat me up"

Dean raised an eyebrow and laughed "Gee, I wonder why they'd want to do that?"

"Hey, I haven't stabbed you like you promised I could…so watch it, buddy" she said as she sipped her beer. "Oh and probably best to wear a long-sleeved shirt when you fight, don't want 'em to see you heal"

He nodded "Yeah, I figured that" he looked at his watch, **_two hours and twenty-four minutes til dusk._**

"I'll drop you off at the property, Dean. You call us when you're done and we'll come get you" said Gus.

"You won't need to, Gus. I'm going with him" said Sam, determination in his voice.

Gus shook his head "No. You're not. You stay here with me and Jay. You don't go _anywhere_ near that field"

"He's right, Sammy"

Sam shook his head "No. I'm _not_ having this argument. I'm going and that's final"

"Sam, you listen to me, son…"

"I'm NOT your son, okay! Don't fucking well argue with me on this! I'm going and that's final! No arguments will be entered into!" he looked at his watch, **_two hours and twenty-three minutes til dusk._**

"Sammy…"

"No!"

"Alright, arguing's not gonna do anyone any good" she looked at her watch, **_two hours and twenty-two minutes til dusk_** "Lets just …oh god, I can't believe I'm actually gonna say this…but …lets-just-sit-back-and-enjoy-each-others-company" she pulled a face "That was more painful than I thought"

Sam laughed out loud "That whole _'being nice'_ thing not quite what you expected?"

Jay shivered "I think my brain started to shut down from the mere shock of it"

Dean laughed "You know it doesn't matter what you say, you may be a major league pain in the ass…but..." he grinned at her "we _like_ you…" he laughed again "stop pulling that face"

She stopped pulling the face "More beer?" she asked, desperate to get away from the conversation.

"I'm in" said Dean. He looked at his watch, **_two hours and twenty-one minutes til dusk._**

"Dude, ease up…I mean…." he looked at his watch, **_two hours and twenty-one minutes til dusk._**

"Not to worry, Sam. When you self-heal it takes a lot to get pissed and you _never_ get a hangover" Jay grinned.

Dean grinned right along with her "I'm in booze heaven".

Sam laughed "You said '_booze'_ right?"

"Eyes up, Sam" said Jay as she went into the house "And if I hear the words _'nice rack' _just once, I'm coming back with an arse-kicking" she smiled when she heard them laugh, the tension finally eased…for now. She looked at her watch, **_two hours and twenty minutes til dusk._**

-----------

Jay was sitting on the porch steps, going over her journal, an array of Gus' books at her side. Sam and Dean were talking quietly near the back of her car and Gus was pacing inside. The tension was starting to build again. She looked at her watch, **_one hour and forty-six minutes til dusk. _**

Jay closed the journal, stood, stretched, turned…and saw Gus staring at her through the window. Alright, so _that_ was undeniably creepy, even for Gus. She grabbed his books and headed inside. She went straight to the bookcase and put the books away. She turned round and Gus was there…_right_ there.

"Alrighty, Gus…personal space issue here. Is there something…."

"Shut up and listen…"

She frowned "Gus?"

"I…he….shit, he's….hide, Jay. Now! Hide!" he muttered.

She didn't need to be told twice, she'd just seen some scary shit in his eyes and she was _outta_ there. Outta there and into the closest room she could find…his. She closed and locked the door behind her… and stopped dead. What the _fuck? _Every available piece of wall was covered in scraps of paper, notes, messages, photos and drawings. There were protection symbols all around the room as well. The roof, the floor the walls…_everywhere._ It was in stark contrast to the neatly made bed, the perfectly aligned photographs and keepsakes on the dresser and the clothes in the closet that were organised by colour and type. _OCD anyone? _she thought.

She went to the dresser and picked up the pill bottles that were there, raised and eyebrow and put them down again. She started to read some of the scribblings that papered the walls…most of it was about time and its workings, about the demons that were coming for Dean and Sam, different scenarios as to how they were going to beat them and musings as to how the demons travelled. She walked around, looking at the walls, taking as much in as she could. She got to a photo of Dean, he was young, maybe sixteen or seventeen…she pulled the photo off he wall and there was a symbol drawn on the wall behind it. She frowned, she'd seen that symbol before. She grabbed a pen from the side table and drew the symbol on a piece of paper and put it in her pocket before replacing the photo. She took a photo of Sam off the wall but there was only a blank piece of wall behind it. She put it back in its place and started going through Gus' drawers. Lucky she didn't have a guilty conscience about that kind of stuff. She found her answer in the third drawer she opened. She looked at her watch, **_one hour and thirty-four minutes til dusk._**

--------------

She was sitting on the bed, waiting impatiently, when there was a knock at the door. She got up slowly and went to it.

"Who is it?"

"Gus. Open up"

"You sure?"

She heard him laugh softly "Yeah. Open up, Jay"

She opened the door a fraction and looked out. It was Gus, blue eyes twinkling. She opened the door wider and he stepped in, leaving the door open behind him. He looked around the room and noticed the pill bottles had been moved.

"Aaah, yeah, sorry about that…got a little bored…..and I'm nosy"

He nodded "Helps with the …you know, after the war…flashbacks, that kinda thing…it's got _that_ many names I can't think of the right one for it"

She nodded "Battle Weary?"

He smiled "Yeah, it's been called that" he laughed "And aren't we all? I'd imagine those boys out there are too."

Jay nodded "I'm sure they are" she cocked her head "And that's all you're dealing with Gus?"

He smiled "I'm a little …complex" he nodded towards the bottles "Don't let on to the boys"

"Don't worry, Gus. Your secret's safe with me"

He stared at her, nodded, smiled and walked out the door. She looked at her watch, **_one hour and twenty-eight minutes til dusk._**

--------

Jay was looking at one of Gus' books when Sam came and sat next to her. She shut the book and looked at him.

"You alright?" she asked, knowing how stupid a question it really was.

He shrugged "Can I ask you something about your brother?"

"Sure"

"Does he make mistakes?"

"That's a pretty difficult question to answer, Sam. We _all_ make mistakes, you know that" he nodded "But does Zeke make many? No, not really. He thinks _everything_ out and while sometimes it may be a mystery to me why he does the things he does….they tend to work out in the end" she paused "Although this whole _Hell _thing just jumped to the top of his _'Big Fucking Mistakes'_ list, I can tell you"

He gave her a short smile "But if he told you to _trust _him on something, would you?"

"Of course, he's my brother. But …" she looked at him "you're not asking for me, you're asking for _you_, aren't you? What did he tell you?"

"Nothing"

She laughed "Alright, Sam"

"Nothing that concerns you anyway…" he paused "and I didn't mean that to sound as bitchy as it did" he gave her another small smile.

"Look, Sam. I don't know what it is that you want to hear, but if Zeke told you something, _asked_ you to do something then I'd seriously think about going along with it. Especially if it concerns the battle, he's not just looking after _me_, he's looking after you two as well"

Sam sighed and she laughed "I hear ya, Sam. I hear ya"

Sam looked at his watch, **_one hour and eleven minutes til dusk_**.

-----------

Jay put the book away slowly. Bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger. Were they _ever_ gonna catch a break? Well apart from the whole _'take two'_ thing…but still. Okay, time to think….time to think….time…she looked at her watch, **_fifty-two minutes til dusk_**. She looked out the window, Dean and Sam were talking, laughing with each other. That was good. She figured the fighting would start up again when Sam wanted to go with Dean to the battleground.

She went back to the bookcase and looked at the books, damn there were SO many. She grabbed one she hadn't read and sat down. This was an _old_ book. She flicked through the pages until something caught her eye. Huh. How about that? It was here all along. She read quickly, making notes in her journal. She put the book away and got out a map of the States she kept at the back of her journal and started to mark it. Maybe….just maybe….

------------

Dean and Sam were leaning against Jay's car, neither of them wanting to think of what was coming. The biggest battle of their lives was under an hour away.

"Sammy, you gotta promise me…if something happens to me…you run. You don't come back here, you ring Gus and you tell him and Jay to run as well. The three of you split up and you _don't_ contact each other"

"Dean, nothing's gonna happen to you. You'll kick demon ass and well be fine"

"Just promise me okay?" he looked at his watch, **_forty-seven minutes til dusk._**

"Dean…."

"_Promise _me, Sammy"

Sam sighed "Okay, I promise".

Dean nodded "I gotta go drain the snake" he grinned at his brother and went inside.

Sam looked at his watch, **_forty-six minutes til dusk._**

--------------

Jay was putting a book away when Dean walked in. He shook his head, her and the damn books. She wasn't gonna stop until she found what she was looking for. He smiled, pain in the ass. He looked at his watch, **_forty-five minutes til dusk_**. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind and walked over to her.

"Jay, I need a favour"

---------

_Lothar paced. An hour….an hour til the battle. He was still no closer to finding out who had reset everything and he was starting to panic. The Man Downstairs was **pissed**. Six squads of demons had already lost their heads and **He **was hunting for more. He'd had no word from his 'sleeper' and they were no closer to finding the woman either. Her brother had not been forthcoming at all. It didn't matter what they did to him, he refused to talk. Two years, he'd lasted. Two years of mental and physical torture and he still hadn't broken. He was much stronger than they'd anticipated which meant that the one called Dean probably was as well. He needed to concentrate. He had a battle to fight but he still needed to figure out who had done this. The woman was no where to be found but her ability was of little consequence to him. He stopped. Could there be another warrior out there? One they **didn't **know about? He shook his head. Impossible. There was only the four of them left. He was positive. They had one warrior, there were three more to go. But would they be as hard to break as the one called Zeke? His mental….he stopped…no…not him…surely not. _

_Zeke knew the time was drawing near….he closed his eyes and reached out to his sister. He saw Dean and Sam outside, Dean with his swords over his back, arguing with Sam. He moved on and found Jay sitting on the lounge reading, like she always did… and he saw Gus watching his sister. He didn't like the way he was watching her either. Something wasn't right there. The other part of his mind heard footsteps coming towards the dungeons and he reached out once more to his sister. He saw her look up, frown slightly and touch a hand to her cheek, he smiled and broke contact._

_**To be continued….**_


	18. Fates in Motion

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything. The story is mine though)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Eighteen.**

There comes a time when we all must face our demons. Face them and defeat them if we are to survive. For Dean Winchester, his demons were not the metaphorical kind, they were the literal kind. He was going into a battle that would decide the fate of not only himself but his brother as well. What he didn't realise that fate of many others was held in his hands as well…or rather their fate was held in his swords. He was as prepared as he was ever going to be and although, on the outside, he was a picture of studied calm and determination; on the inside, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.

Fear.

The fear wasn't for himself. It seldom was. The fear was for the one person he loved more than anything. Sam. He had a decision to make…his life for Sam's. But as is with all life-altering decisions it was never that simple. If he _died _they got Sam, if he _lived_ they got Sam. Where was the decision in that? All he knew was that he had to do the thing he was trained to do. Kill demons. He would have to trust that Zeke would do what he said he could. Save Sam's soul. He would gladly go to Hell if Sam was spared. He hoped Zeke understood that. He looked at his watch, it was time to go. He walked back into the cabin to say his goodbyes.

---------------

Jay and Gus were talking quietly in the kitchen, he looked over at them, Jay nodded at him and went back to talking with Gus. He looked over as Sam walked out of the bathroom and he smiled at his younger brother.

Sam grinned "You about ready, dude?"

Dean nodded "Just about"

Jay and Gus walked over to them and the four of them stood together, the awkward silence seeming to stretch for an eternity.

Gus grinned "Well then, Dean. Time to go kick some demon ass, son" he shook his hand and gave him one of those awkward man-hugs "You make sure you take their heads off, they won't get up from that"

Dean grinned "It'll be my pleasure, Gus"

Jay smiled at him "Remember, we race the cars when you get back. When I win, I get to stab you in the arse…_a lot_"

He laughed "You're on" he grinned at her "Now give me a kiss!"

Jay rolled her eyes "Just go will ya"

"Awww, come on" he grinned again 'You know you want to"

Jay laughed "You're an idiot"

He laughed at her then hugged her, whispering in her ear "Tell him I'm sorry"

"I will" she whispered back.

They stepped apart and looked at Sam, he was grinning at them.

"So where's my hug?" he said with a laugh.

"Here, Sam" said Gus and he went quickly behind Sam, putting him in a chokehold.

Dean looked at his brother sadly, turned and walked out. Not looking back.

-------------

Sam woke slowly, a groan escaping him. He tried to move. He couldn't. He looked down at himself, his arms were bound by the wrists behind the chair in which he was sitting and each ankle was strapped to the leg of the chair. He looked towards the kitchen, Jay and Gus were watching him.

"YOU ASSHOLES! UNTIE ME!" he yelled.

Gus shook his head "Sorry, Sam. I told you you weren't going anywhere near this battle and I meant it"

"NO! YOU _HAVE_ TO LET ME GO!" he struggled against the ropes that bound him. He looked at Jay "How long has he been gone? Tell me! TELL ME!"

Jay looked at her watch "He left about a half hour ago, Sam"

"Jay, listen to me….you _have _to let me go. I'm the _only_ one that can help him"

She shook her head "Sorry, Sam. I told Dean I'd keep you here til he got back"

"BITCH! YOU'VE KILLED HIM AND YOU'VE KILLED ME!" the ropes digging painfully into his wrists and ankles as he continued to struggle.

"Shit. I can't watch this, Gus. Let's go get the Impala, okay? Surprise Dean" she said.

"I thought you were gonna race him back here" said Gus surprised.

She laughed "Did you really think I was gonna let him drive my baby? Come on." she stood up "I've already put spares in the back of my car. We should be able to do this and be back in an hour tops" she grinned at him "Even _with_ your fucked-up leg"

"LET ME GO!" yelled Sam.

They stood up, ignoring him as they walked to the front door. Jay stopped at the door and turned back to Sam "Dean said to tell you he's sorry, Sam. He just wants to protect you is all" and she followed Gus out the door, trying to ignore the yells and screams that followed her.

She got into the drivers seat as Gus settled himself awkwardly into the passengers side.

"Shit. I left the Impala's keys inside. Back in a sec" she got out and jogged back inside.

-------------

She opened the door to a scream of obscenities. She walked towards him, glancing quickly back at her car.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! I'M COMING FOR YOU! WHEN THIS IS OVER! I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

'Whatever you say, Sam" and she went behind him and cut through the ropes "Keep yelling at me, okay?"

"What?" said a confused Sam.

"Just keep fucking yelling okay?" and she moved in front of him and cut the ropes from his ankles as he yelled at her, calling her names. She looked up at him "Wait five minutes then go out the back door. You should be able to make it to the battleground in ten minutes if you run"

"But…" he asked

She smiled "Like I'd let Dean do to you what Zeke did to me. They don't understand, Sam. You go and you do what you need to save the both of you" she stood and kissed his cheek "And you tell _anyone_ I did that and I'll kick your arse" she grinned "Now yell at me some more as I leave"

"Thank you, Jay" he said earnestly.

"Aaah geez, just yell at me will you? _That's _what I'm used to" and she reached into her pocket, taking out the Impala's keys, turned and walked out the door as Sam yelled abuse at her.

---------

Gus was starting to get out of her car when she came out. She raised the keys in her hand and grinned "Got 'em" and Gus settled himself back into the car as she jogged down the porch steps. She got into her car, revved the engine and drove out of the property. As she turned into the tree-line, she glanced into the rear-view and saw the retreating figure of Sam, running towards his fate. She smiled to herself, good luck to him. She hoped he knew what he was doing.

--------------

Dean drove the Firebird onto the property his father had bought twenty years ago…bought knowing his sons would battle for their lives and souls here. His swords were on the seat next to him, sharpened to perfection, his daggers in his boots, also at the ready. Metallica was blasting from the stereo as he entered the battlefield. His thoughts turned to Sammy. He knew Sam would never forgive him for this but he would _not_ let him be a part of it… and if he lost, he would _not_ let Sam see him die.

He put the Firebird in park, grabbed his swords and exited the car. He put the swords over his back, sat on the hood of the car and waited, his fingers drumming to the beat of his favourite song.

They arrived five minutes later. He heard the _'sonic-boom' _and then they were there, seeming to shimmer into existence in front of his eyes. He leaned back against the windshield of the car and smiled at them. "What took you so long, boys? Lose your way?" he laughed "That time-travelling during demon-peak-hour must be a _bitch" _

They glared at him.

Dean cocked his head "Hey. you don't have problems like they did in the movie 'The Fly' do you? You know, coming back home and having …say…your teeny-tiny dicks stuck to your foreheads?" he laughed.

"Asshole" said one of the demons.

Dean grinned "Dickhead" he sat up, slipped off the car and turned the engine off. He walked towards them "Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I count ten of you" he smiled "You wouldn't be cheating would you?" he saw the one called Lothar flinch a little when he said that. Interesting. He tucked that piece of info away for later. "Although I can understand you thinking you'd need more demons to kill me" he grinned "'Cause I kick ass"

A demon stepped forward "You fight only eight. We are _'The Watchers', _we ensure the rules are followed" he sneered "And we will take you _and_ your brother when this is over"

"Yeah, keep livin' the dream" he laughed at the phrase, Jay's phrase.

"Your brother is not here' said The Watcher.

"Wow, nothing gets past you does it?" he laughed at the fury he saw in the demons eyes "No, he's off having one of those total-makeovers…wants to look nice for when I kill you assholes"

The Watcher glared at Dean "It doesn't matter where he is. We own his soul" he grinned nastily at Dean "thanks to you. And we'll find him. We'll kill the old man and then you'll tell us where the woman is"

Dean's mind ticked over, they knew about Gus but not about Jay. How was that possible? "What woman? What the _fuck_ are you talking about?" he laughed "Look, if you want me to hook you up, I gotta tell ya, I don't do demon chicks" he paused "Although, there was this one chick in Tampa…yeah, she coulda been" he shuddered.

The Watchers stared at him "The time draws near. You fight one at a time" he grinned "well you'll fight one. You won't last long Dean Winchester"

Dean stepped forward "Tell me that when I'm driving my sword through your boys' necks"

The Watcher grinned "Lets begin"

-----------

AJ drove in silence, glancing occasionally at Gus as Metallica filled the car. She turned off the property, onto the road and pushed her foot to the floor. The Chevy leapt forward, her engine roaring, she smiled as the car rumbled beneath her. She _loved _this car. She looked at her watch.

"Dean should be fighting right about now" Gus grunted "Sam's never gonna forgive us"

"He'll get over it" said Gus.

They were silent for a while, both lost in their own thoughts.

"So how long have you been on the wagon, Gus?"

"Don't you mean off?" he asked.

She laughed "On…off…I always get confused as to which it is. And those twelve-step programs can be a _real_ bitch…or so I've heard. Load of crap, I reckon. Drink, pills…whatever gets you through the night right? Whatever keeps the demons at bay"

He nodded and turned slowly towards her "You're smarter than I thought, Jay"

She laughed "Nah, I just read a lot"

He smiled "And snoop"

She grinned "That too" she looked up "There it is" and she pulled her car in front of the Impala "Okay, get your disabled arse out of the car and help me"

He laughed "You_ do_ grown on people"

She laughed "Shhh, don't tell anyone"

----------

Sam ran. Ran faster than he'd ever run in his life. He didn't feel the ache in his muscles, he didn't feel the painful scratches he received to his face and arms as he charged through the scrubland towards his brother. He didn't feel the burning in his lungs or the sweat that stung his eyes, all he knew was he had to get to his brother.

He broke through the scrub and raced towards the property, he stumbled, fell and was on his feet in a second, not registering his broken finger. He ran down a gully, jumping across a small stream before charging up the other side. He looked over and saw Dean fighting, two demons dead at his feet. He vaulted the fence that surrounded the field and ran towards his brother.

----------

Jay sat behind the wheel of the Impala…well Dean wasn't gonna drive _her_ car but she sure as shit was gonna drive his. And damn if she wasn't a beautiful car to drive as well. She couldn't believe he still had a tape deck in it though. She pushed her foot to the floor and followed Gus back to the property. She checked the gun at the small of her back as they turned onto the property. Now things were going to get interesting. You see, Gus, Dean and Sam didn't know what it was she did. She _wasn't _a hunter, not by their standards anyway. There were only a few of her kind around. And not many knew about them either. That was the way it had to be or else what she and the others did would be put at risk.

She pulled up in front of the cabin, parking the Impala next to her own car. She got out and followed Gus up the stairs. She pulled the gun from the small of her back as he opened the door. He stopped when he saw the empty chair.

"What the _fuck?" _

Jay pistol-whipped him, knocking him out before he could say anything else.

She sighed and dragged the unconscious man into the house

_**To be continued…..**_


	19. The Midst of Battle

_(Yes, second last chapter folks. I promise it will be all be finalised by Chapter 20. Enjoy.)_

_----------_

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Story is mine though)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Nineteen.**

Dean smiled as he stepped towards his fate. The fear now gone. This was what he was born to do and the primal instinct that was buried deep within him rose like a fire and consumed everything but what was needed for battle.

The demons saw the change in the man and looked at each other. This wasn't the same man they'd battled on their first attempt. This was someone different…it gave them pause. But they were here to do a job and nothing was going to stop them. _Him_ and _his_ kind would _not_ be allowed to live. If they did, it would be the beginning of the end for them.

Dean waited…waited and watched. _They_ would make the first move and he would take his cue from them. He smiled as the adrenalin kicked in, rushing through his veins in a torrent, his senses in hyper-drive as he took in all around him. He was in the zone and those fuckers didn't stand a chance.

A demon stepped forward, smiled nastily at him, drew his sword and struck. Dean had his sword in his hand in an instant. He blocked the blow, swung the demons sword round as he pulled his other sword from its scabbard, decapitating the demon. It had taken less than ten seconds. He turned his eyes to the rest of them.

"Next"

He swung his swords in an arc, grinning as he kicked at the head of the first dead demon. Another stepped forward, his sword already in hand. They circled each other, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. The two of them, demon and hunter…battling like their kind always had. To the death. The demon launched itself at Dean, bringing his sword down with as much force as it could muster. Dean crossed his swords above his head, blocking the strike and pushing the demon back. He advanced quickly, striking left over right, driving the demon back, his fury building with each swing of his swords. He ducked a strike at his head, dropped to his knees, driving one of his swords up through the demons chest before rising and slicing it's head from it's shoulders. Two down, six to go.

The remaining demons stared at the man. He'd killed two of their own without breaking a sweat. He was using as little energy as he could, keeping some in reserve, he understood he had to last through eight separate battles and he wasn't going to waste energy in unnecessary strikes. He wasn't even speaking. He _was_ a warrior.

Dean watched as another demon stepped forward, this one had two swords…he smiled, _now_ he was going to have a fight. He smiled at the demon, noticing how he slightly favoured his right leg. A weak spot. He circled to the demons right, making him use that leg to effect his first strike. He stepped forward, swinging at Dean's head with one sword, the other aimed at his stomach. Dean grinned, blocked both blows and the fight began. His swords swung, the light of the slowly setting sun glinting off them. The sound of clashing swords like lighting cracks in the still afternoon air. Dean advanced, making the demon use his right leg more and more. He could see him starting to favour it as they continued to fight and he struck hard at him, forcing him to take a step back. He threw himself to the side, slicing a long cut along the demons knee, forcing him to the ground. The demon struck quickly, catching Dean along the leg. The demon didn't have time to savour the small victory as his head fell from his shoulders.

"Dean!"

Dean turned and saw Sam running towards him. Shit! What the _hell_ was he doing here? "Stay back, Sammy!"

He turned, instinctively blocking a strike at his neck. His eyes filled with fury and he jumped at the demon, slashing left and right, driving the demon back, his swords a perfect extension of himself, his feet perfectly placed to ensure each strike was made with maximum force. He didn't feel the slice to his side, he was intent only on killing. He hacked into the demon's shoulder, the arm falling from its perch, the demons scream cut short as Dean's sword cut cleanly through its neck.

"Dean, you're hurt!"

"I'm fine, Sam!" said Dean, his eyes never leaving those of the remaining demons.

"You're bleeding..."

"I'M FINE! STAY BACK!" he yelled at his brother. He could feel the wound in his leg had almost healed. The one to his side was slowly starting to knit together. He needed to kill the other four demons before they realised he could self-heal.

He looked at them "Let's get this finished" he pointed his sword at one of the demons "You" he pointed at another "And you"

"No, Dean!"

"Shut the fuck up, Sam!" he walked towards the demons "Come on, pussies. Two against one, what are you waiting for?"

The demons smiled and walked towards him…the warrior had made his first mistake.

---------

Jay sat in a chair opposite Gus', her arms leaning on it's back as she waited for him to wake. She waited patiently, she was good at that…it was part of the job. She sipped at her coffee waiting for the first murmurings of his mind returning. She'd stitched and wrapped his head and tied him to the chair that Sam had so recently vacated. Everything she needed was on the table to her right. Within easy reach.

She put her coffee down as Gus moaned. He lifted his head slowly, his eyes boring into hers. He smiled nastily at her and she smiled sweetly back at him.

"Well it's good to see you've finally made an appearance, Azazel. It's been a while" she said.

He sneered at her "You _won't _win and neither will those other two" he laughed "And no matter what your brother does, you'll _never_ get to him!"

She reached over and slapped him hard, rocking his head sideways "Look down, Azazel. I'm not here to play games"

He looked down, finally noticing the symbol that surrounded the chair and he roared his rage at her.

She laughed "Yeah, not _quite_ the devil's trap is it?"

"You're one of _them!_"

She laughed "Yeah, I am. Bet that surprised you" she cocked her head at him "Although you should have realised that after our last meeting" she smiled "But you were never really that bright. I'm guessing that's why they made you a 'sleeper'"

"Fuck you!" he spat.

"Now, now. Language." she got out of her chair and moved it to the side "Now I can't have you go back and tell your friends all about me, can I?"

"You exorcise me, he dies! You know that!"

She laughed "I'm not going to exorcise you, Azazel. You said I was one of _them_ …. you _know _what it is that I do" she picked up her book and opened it to the page she needed.

He panicked "If you let me go…I'll help you get to your brother! You know I can! We'll...make a deal!" the fear was clearly evident in his eyes.

She smiled "Begging. The second stage. We had denial a little earlier" she grinned at him "You're just powering through this aren't you?"

"I can get to your brother! I can! _You _can't, but _I_ can!"

She looked at him "_I _will get to my brother. I don't need _anyone's _help. Especially that of a piss-weak, second-rate demon" she smiled "Now on with the show…" she took her dagger from the table and cut the symbol she needed into the palm of her hand. She walked around the demon that inhabited Gus' body, speaking in the ancient language taught to her by her predecessor, the blood slowly dripping around the circle, hissing as it hit the symbol drawn on the floor.

The demon howled as he felt the lessening…he held tight to his host, knowing that once he let go, it was the end of him. There was no going back to Hell for him, he would be cast into oblivion, no chance of returning…ever. _She_ was one of _'The Banishers'. _One of the few that could kill the essence of a demon, ensuring they were lost, never to return. Once a demon was killed he was body was dead, but his essence, his _being_ was never truly gone. It was held, waiting to be reborn. _These_ were the only ones that could truly destroy them.

Jay continued the ritual, Gus' screams now mixing with that of Azazel's. The cocophany bouncing off the walls of the cabin as demon and host fought for possession of the body. She glanced at Gus, she could see the welts starting to appear on his hands where Azazel clung to him. It was only going to get worse but there was no other way. Once a 'sleeper' was in place there was only one way to get rid of them, The 'sleeper' would wait til Gus' mortal form died, then it would take over completely. This was the only was to save Gus. Unfortunately, it hurt like a sonofabitch.

-----------

Dean was on his knees, breathing heavily, his head hung slightly. He forced his eyes up, two more…that's all…two more. He dug deep, the stab wound to his back was bleeding freely, the blood from the shoulder wound coursing down his arm, dripping from his fingertips.

"Dean, come on, dude…get up…get up…you can do it. Don't _let_ those assholes get you!" urged Sam.

Dean rose to his feet, staggered a little, lifted his swords and readied himself for the next attack. He stepped purposefully towards the remaining demons "Lets finish this"

A demon stepped forward, grinning…Dean dropped his sword a little, shook his head and took a slight, awkward step back…

"DEAN!" yelled Sam.

The demon ran at Dean. Sensing he was weak from blood loss, he saw the man sink to his knees again and he laughed as he charged. He didn't expect the man to slice the legs out from underneath him, roll and come up behind him, decapitating him in one swift movement. It didn't even register that he'd been tricked.

Dean turned towards Lothar. This was it. After this, it was all over…what it was that would be over, at this stage, was anyone's guess. But he aimed to finish the job.

Lothar stared at the man. He stared long and hard at the warrior. He'd killed seven of his men, he was injured, there was no doubt, but his will to finish the job far outweighed any injury he had. The man was dangerous. Lothar _had_ to kill him.

Lothar smiled "So it is down to you and me, Dean Winchester"

"Looks like. You want to say goodbye to your fuck-buddies over there before I kill you?"

Lothar glared "You make jokes, but you will NOT be laughing when we bring the old man from his cabin to join you in Hell"

Dean raised an eyebrow "His cabin? How would you know about that?" Dean saw the briefest flash of fear in Lothar's eyes before he regained his composure. He laughed, he _had_ been cheating.

"There is nothing _but_ cabins in this area" said Lothar.

"Yeah, you're probably right…but there's more to it than that, isn't there? You've been breaking the rules, haven't you Lothar?" said Dean as he circled the demon. He noticed the Watchers' interest peak at that. He drove the issue home "What is it Lothar? You been taking little trips to the past? Spying? Trying to see what it is we're up to? Cause you know that's against the rules"

Lothar roared and charged at Dean, his plan to bait the man into doing the wrong thing backfiring as he flew at him, hacking and slicing without thought to winning the battle, only wanting the hurt the man for guessing his secret.

Dean had done what he'd hoped to do, get the demon into such a rage he didn't fight properly. He was too overtaken with rage to think through his strikes, he was just hacking and slicing at him, trying to get to him. Dean was an exercise in studied calm, blocking each blow, parrying strike after strike, letting the demon tire himself out before making his move. He ducked under a strike, turned and sliced Lothar from hip to shoulder-blade, forcing a roar of rage out of the demon that echoed around the surrounding fields. Lothar turned, and ran…ran recklessly at Dean.

He looked down surprised as both of Dean's swords pierced his chest. He fell to his knees, dropping his swords. Dean crossed his swords around Lothar's neck, drawing only a small amount of blood, his intent abundantly clear.

He leaned in close and whispered "This is for me, Sam, Zeke" he smiled "and Jay" he saw Lothar's eyes widen "Yeah, that's right. She was with us the whole time. Go to Hell knowing _that_ asshole!" and he closed the swords quickly. The demons headless body crumpling to the ground.

Dean re-sheathed his swords and turned to The Watchers.

Sam stepped beside his brother and stared at the two remaining demons "It's finished. You go and you leave us the fuck alone!"

One of the demons smiled at him "It doesn't work that way" he looked at Dean "Tell you brother what happens"

Sam looked at Dean, he didn't like the look he saw on his brothers face and it was time to put what Zeke had told him into play "What? Tell me, Dean"

Dean said nothing.

The demons laughed "Your brother traded _your_ soul Sam Winchester. He lives and you come with us"

Sam shook his head "No….he wouldn't do that"

"Sammy…"

Sam looked at Dean "NO! You wouldn't DO that! You…." he stopped when he saw the look in his brothers eyes "NO! NO!"

"Sammy…please…" he took a step towards his brother.

Sam stepped away from him "YOU ASSHOLE! HOW _COULD_ YOU??" he laughed "It's _her_ isn't it! "

"NO, SAM!"

"Bullshit!" he laughed "Well if I'm going to Hell….I'm gonna go for a reason" he reached quickly into his boot, removed the dagger and slit Dean's throat.

He grabbed his brother, forcing him to look at him "I've killed _you, _Dean"

Dean reached up, grabbing the blood-soaked dagger, trying to speak to Sam, trying to explain but the only thing that came from his lips was blood.

"Now you kill me" he put his hand over Dean's hand and drove the dagger into his own heart.

Dean stared into his brothers eyes. The eyes were .where death began, as all hope slowly fades and fate is accepted. He saw the light leave his brothers eyes….he pulled the dagger free, the light leaving his own eyes moments later.

The Watchers screamed their fury at the men. They watched as they crumpled to the ground in a seemingly lovers embrace. The _one _thing that would break the pact, the _one_ thing that would ensure they kept their souls, they had done. The only thing that had kept the pact intact had been broken when they'd broken the bond of brotherhood. The job had been done, yes, the warriors were dead, but their souls were their own. They had failed.

_**To be continued…..**_


	20. Battle Weary

(Disclaimer: Don't own anything but this story)

**Battle Weary.**

**Chapter Twenty.**

The sun had set long ago. The night sky was now filled with billions of twinkling stars and the full-moon looked down upon the bodies of two men; one lying over the other in what looked like a final, desperate act of protection.

The crickets had resumed their chirruping and the owls hooted monotonously in the distance, their home now returned to the peaceful haven it was before it had been violated by the sounds of battle. Nature always forgave such intrusions…it seldom forgot. The blood of the vanquished always left a reminder. The earth soaked up the remains of battle, always keeping it alive in some small way. Nothing _ever_ passes into time without someone or something bearing witness.

And bear witness it did. Nature watched as the first stirrings of life returned to one of the men. It started slowly, as all life does…creeping its way into the body, forging a path towards existence, one heart-beat…then another …and another before it races into action, bursting back into life with a scream.

----------

Jay sat on the lounge, her head in her hands, exhausted. Azazel had fought...and fought hard. They all did when it came down to it, when they finally understood that this really _was_ the end for them. She raised her head and looked out the window, night had settled over the land and everything was quiet. There was no wind, no sounds of any kind. Even the crickets hadn't resumed their chirruping. It always took a while for nature to return after a _banishing_. The area had been tainted and life would _only_ return when it was sure all traces of the unnatural were gone.

She looked at her palm, the scar was almost gone. It was the only scar that would completely fade. It was a way for her to keep her secret, to ensure others didn't know who she was and what she did. A way to keep her safe.

She sighed. She hadn't _exactly_ lied to Dean, Sam and Gus, she'd just... left something out. She _was_ looking for her brother, she _was_ still trying to get to him and she _would_ continue to do so. She hadn't known she would find the answers she needed here, she guessed that maybe Zeke had and that _still_ messed with her mind. She hadn't had _any_ idea about his gifts and that was just like him. Only letting her know what he thought she needed to. It didn't work the other way though. _He_ knew about her healing and about her being a _Banisher_, damn, he'd been the one that had steered her towards it. Only two other people, apart from Zeke, knew about her. Three now, if she counted Gus.

She got up, walked out to the porch and looked up to the sky. The moon was full, casting an eerie, blue glow over the landscape, making everything it touched appear ghostly. She turned her head towards the direction of the battleground, they should have been back by now. She looked at her watch…yeah, they should have been back by now. She walked back into the cabin to get organised.

--------------

His breathing was ragged at first, his senses not fully understanding what had happened, what _was_ happening. He moaned loudly as the first stirrings of memory started to seep back into his conscious. His eyes snapped open and he pushed himself off his brother, their shirts sticking, the spilled blood seeming to want to keep them together in death as it had in life.

He howled his anguish up to the sky, the owls in nearby trees taking flight at the sudden, desolate wail of despair. He knelt next to the body of his brother; his brother whom he had sworn to protect, to protect above all else. He pulled Sam to him, holding him close, willing the life back into him, begging the Gods for one more chance, one more chance to set it right. When he got no answer, he raged at them, swearing vengeance on them, cursing them for all eternity... until he broke. The grief so overwhelming he could do nothing but hold his brother, rock him in his arms, whispering his name over and over and begging him for forgiveness.

He didn't know how long he sat like that. Time had no meaning anymore. Nothing had meaning anymore. He'd defeated the demons and it had cost Sam his life. He remembered the words Sam had said…the words that echoed through his mind. That reverberated deep in his soul. Words that would _never _let him go…

"_I've killed you, now you kill me. I've killed you, now you kill me. I've killed you, now you kill me"_

It wouldn't stop. It would _never_ stop. In the last moments of his life, Sam had hated him. Hated him enough to kill him. Hated him _so_ much he'd made Dean to kill him in return. He would _never_ get the chance to explain to Sam it wasn't supposed to happen that way; never get the chance to make things right… never get the chance to tell Sam he loved him.

He'd failed. He'd failed Sam and he would never get over it. He didn't want to. He lay his brother gently on the ground and kissed his forehead gently, like he had when they'd been kids, when life held promise and where they'd still had their innocence.

He got slowly to his feet and went to the car. He took a piece of paper from the glove-box and wrote a note for Gus, explaining everything and asking for one last favour. He put the note under the windshield wiper and walked back to his brother.

He knelt on the ground near his brother's head then turned away, unable to look at what he'd done. He moved slightly away from him and drew one of his swords from its scabbard. One quick movement, no hesitations….it was the only way. He thought back to his childhood, the happy times he'd shared with Sam, wanting _that_ to be the last thing he ever saw. He closed his eyes and raised his sword….

"For you, Sam…." he whispered.

He started the arc towards his neck….then felt the sword stopped. He opened his eyes and looked into ones filled with heartache…

"No, Dean."

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They crashed through the front door of the cabin, they had very little time…

"GUS! GUS!!" screamed Dean as he looked around the cabin, searching for the man.

He looked up and saw Gus stagger out of the kitchen, the man was a mess. There were long welts down his face and the blood-vessels in his eyes had burst, the whites of them now red as the beginnings of bruises formed around them. His head was bandaged as were his hands, but he was standing, so he was well enough to help.

"Jesus, what the _hell_ happened?" said Gus as he took halting, painful steps into the room.

"Just help me!"

Gus made his way over to Dean as fast as he could and they went to the spare room.

"On the bed now! How bad is it?" asked Gus.

"Bad...jesus…bad…."

"How did this happen? How the _fuck_ did this happen Dean?"

Dean just shook his head as he stared at the figure on the bed.

"Go the fridge, there's a jar in there…get it! Now, Dean!"

"Which…"

"JUST GO!"

Dean ran from the room, jerked the fridge open and looked. He saw it immediately. He grabbed the jar and ran back to the room, holding the one thing that may just bring his brother back from the brink.

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Jay walked back into the cabin, she had a lot to do before Dean and Sam got back. She went to the bathroom and got what she needed from Gus' first aid kit. She went to the kitchen, got what she needed from there and then retrieved pen and paper from the desk near the front door. She sat on the lounge and got to work.

She sipped at her beer as she wrote, trying not to think of what lay ahead. She finished a half hour later. She got up, went to the bookcase, removed the old book she'd read earlier and put it in her duffel bag. She went back to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of tequila and a couple of beers and put them in her bag too.

She checked Gus one last time before heading out the door. She threw her bag onto the back seat of her car and looked towards the battleground again. She sighed, she had to believe she was doing the right thing, she had to trust Zeke and she had to trust Dean and Sam. She believed they were still alive, if they weren't, both she and Gus would be dead right now.

She took one last look at the cabin, got into her car and drove towards one of the destinations that she hoped would give her the answers she needed. The answers that would bring her closer to saving her brother.

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Dean and Sam sat on the porch drinking beer, an uneasy silence filling the air between them. Dean finally broke it…

"What if it hadn't worked, Sam?" he asked quietly.

Sam shrugged "Zeke said it would. He said there'd be enough of your blood on the blade to bring me back and that Jay would help with the rest" he looked at his brother "How'd she know to leave it? The blood, I mean"

It was Dean's turn to shrug "Zeke I'd imagine"

They sat in silence for a long time, each lost in the memories of that night. Memories that would haunt the both of them for many years to come. It was a long time before Dean spoke again.

"I'm _tired_, Sam. Tired of all the killing, tired of all the hunting….tired of all the battles" he paused and said quielty and without conviction "I don't want to do this anymore"

Sam nodded, he was tired too. He understood though, that they'd been given a gift, and he was sure Dean understood that too. It was a gift that could _not_ be wasted. They were hunters. They always would be. Only _now_ they were hunters that could rise from the dead.

The warriors had evolved.

_**The End.**_


	21. Epilogue

_Just want to thank those of you who have stuck with this story. You have allowed me to release an idea that I'd had for a long time and I thank you for it. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it._

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(Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Story's mine)

**Battle Weary.**

**Epilogue.**

_Six months later…_

Sam sat in another crappy chair, at another crappy table in another crappy motel, in another crappy town, swirling even crappier coffee in a chipped, coffee-stained cup. He watched the disgusting liquid whirlpool around the mug, his mind seeming to circle with it. He looked over, Dean was crashed out on one of the beds, still fully clothed. He hadn't even removed his boots. Sam put the mug down, rose quietly from the chair and went to his brother. He gently removed his boots, grabbed a blanket from his bed, covering Dean before slumping back in the chair in front of the laptop.

They'd been on the move for a long time, hunting what they could and occasionally testing out their new ability. But their main focus was held somewhere else...trying to keep a promise they'd made six months ago.

Sam went over to Dean's duffel bag and removed the photo, he took it back to the laptop and removed the two pieces of paper from their father's journal. It was here…the answer was here. Somewhere between the drawing of the necklace, the letter that had been left at Gus' and the photo, the photo that had changed again.

The photo of him, Dean and Jay, somewhere in the middle of the desert, leaning against her car, beers in hand, swords across their backs.


End file.
